Breathe
by Kagome023
Summary: She was on a mission when she was snatched away. Many try to get her back, but in the end, keep failing. She tries to escape, but the man who kidnapped her controls her through force. ItaSaku
1. Taken

I'm wondering how many people are frustrated with me because I haven't updated my other stores. One Word. College. I promise to update this story every week. I want to make myself a better writer, and the only way to do that is to get writing. So please read and review : )

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing except this plot. I wish I owned Itachi and Sakura though.

**Summary:** Her mission was supposed to be easy when she suddenly was taken away from her team by two men in black cloaks covered in red clouds. The man with red eyes wanted her. He wanted to break her. ItaSaku

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Breathe

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Chapter 1

Carefully, she stepped on to the tree branch five feet away from her captain. He was scoping the area, checking for any intruders. The medic in her was worried for what was waiting for her. Her other teammate stood by her side, patient for what the captain would decide.

"Fox, Monkey, we will camp here for the night," their captain ordered. The two nodded. The three of them settled in an isolated area. The man behind the fox mask was decided to take the first shift.

The fox, the monkey, and the cat had been running for thirty-two hours straight, finally complying with the need for a bit of rest. The monkey put her hand in her kunai pouch and pulled out soldier pills, plopping them into her mouth. The cat proceeded to lay his head on the log and get some shut eyes.

Their mission was to get the monkey to the Sand Village and heal others who needed her help. The ones who needed her help were ambushed on a mission, forced to stop in the Sand until further notice. Their leader suggested the monkey to go with the fox and the cat in fear that the monkey will be harmed. If any harm came to the monkey, the Fire Village would be out a medic, a very good medic who had surpassed the leader who ordered them.

The monkey rested on the ground for a little bit, keeping her senses up a bit in case her other teammate should somehow fall asleep. The fox wasn't very reliable when it came to running for a long time. Though he was more mature than he used to be, he still was a bit careless in his actions. His carelessness was why he had yet to become an ANBU captain.

The cat was out quickly. He reflected why he had the cat mask. He was agile and sneaky, but he was fast to sleep when he got the chance.

The fox kept watch for two hours, noticing nothing out of the ordinary. He made the switch with the monkey, heading right for slumber. The monkey watched her surroundings. They had no sleep for thirty-two hours and only receiving two was taking its toll on her.

The monkey checked her medical supply in her head. Her old team leader from seven years ago had been injured along with a boy that was once in love with her and a girl who loved the fox. The report explained that the three had been ambushed an Akatsuki member. Their mission was to escort the advisors from Konoha to the Sand Village. Luckily, none of the advisors had been hurt. The girl who loved the fox could heal some wounds but not as extensively as the monkey.

Then the monkey felt it. She sensed a chakra running towards them. She shook the fox and the cat awake. They felt it too. There were two chakra signals now. They had hidden their chakra well, but the monkey had developed a skill over the years to detect any chakra, even hidden chakra. They prepared themselves. The monkey charged up her fists with chakra. The cat pulled out his katana. The fox held two kunai, one in each hand.

The two people coming for them finally appeared. The monkey resisted gasping when she saw the cloaks on the two men. Both of them wore black cloaks with red clouds. One had blue skin, and the other had the famous Uchiha Sharingan. The five stared at each other, waiting for one of them to make the first move. The monkey knew she had to protect herself. She was needed in the Sand Village, so no harm was to come to her.

Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame stood before them. No doubt they had some part in the attack on the team in the Sand Village. "Hello, little ANBU!" Kisame exclaimed, pointing his sword at them.

"Remember the mission, Kisame," Itachi reminded, eyeing the three ANBU in front of him. He analyzed each mask, taking in the animals. He stared at their hair: blond, brown, and pink. The pink had caught his eye. The five ninjas were waiting for the other to attack to give them reason to start attacking.

"Fox, monkey," the cat called to his fellow companions. At that instant, all five attacked each other at once. The monkey and the fox settled on the weasel, lunging for him as he did in turn at the monkey. The cat chose to fight the fish. The fox and monkey worked together avoiding the Uchiha's eyes. The cat wondered to himself why the pair is here fighting the three of them. Could they be after the fox, or do they intend to stop them from completing the mission?

The cat dodged the sword that the blue fish possessed. The Samehada was a weapon that could suck the chakra out of him if it got close enough. The cat leapt up in the air, throwing a few shuriken at Kisame. He quickly dodged, thrusting the Samehada at the cat. They were playing a game of cat and fish.

The fox and the monkey tackled the weasel but missed. The monkey stomped on the ground and caused a crater. The weasel jumped out of the way before he could get caught up in the debris. He was instantly behind the monkey, grasping on the back of her neck. The monkey disappeared and appeared to his side, lunging at him with her fist. The fox was nowhere to be seen. Then he ran out with a ball of air in hand, preparing to hit the weasel with it.

"Rasengan," the fox cried, thrusting it at the Uchiha. The weasel caught both their wrists and kicked the fox towards the tree, while pushing the monkey onto the ground. The monkey kicked up with chakra in her feet, but he avoided it and pulled her mask off in the process.

Haruno Sakura was under the monkey mask. Her eyes widened that her mask was stolen. She immediately stood up, powering her chakra fists and running at Itachi with full force. The fox recovered himself and called out, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Thirty clones appeared all intent on attacking the Uchiha. All but two lunged at him. Sakura's fist was again caught by the Uchiha. She disappeared as twenty-eight clones descended on him. They all carried their own individual Rasengan. A few trees fell around them. Itachi continued to avoid all the hits.

Sakura gathered chakra in her hands. Her hands glowed blue this time. She brought her hand downs on him like a knife as he appeared in front of her. He was hit. Sakura had severed a few of his muscles. Itachi ignored the pain, grabbing the girl and throwing her against a tree.

Kisame had knocked out the cat successfully, removing his mask. He had drained him of most of his chakra. The lack of sleep had gotten to the cat.

Hyuuga Neji lay on the ground unconscious. He had failed in bringing down Kisame. Kisame focused his sights on the fox, taking out all of his clones. "Rasenshuriken!" the two remaining copies of the fox exclaimed, running for the one who had defeated his comrade. Kisame decided to only avoid the attack by a couple of inches, hitting the two foxes with his sword.

Sakura kicked Itachi away from her by a few feet. She looked away from his eyes. Right now, she wished she had perfected the jutsu she had been working on. For now, she was just going to have to use it as well as she could. She disappeared into the trees with the Uchiha watching her. She moved from side, starting to focus chakra into her eyes. She prepared a huge amount of chakra. It almost functioned like the Byuukagan, but it had its own effects. She had molded it so genjutsu would fail to work on her while using this technique.

Using her new technique that she had yet to name, she quickly went for Uchiha. The technique she developed also allowed her to detect any moves made. He moved out of the way, and she punched him in the shoulder with huge strength. He glared at her, quickly noticing that she was making eye contact with him but that it had no effect on her. He also noted the huge amount of chakra pulsing into her eyes. They were glowing green right now, but he knew it would not last for very long. This jutsu was still young and not yet controllable enough.

All it would take was a little distraction to stop the flow of chakra to her eyes. He blew a fire ball at her, and she somersaulted away, quickly getting back on her feet. Her chakra was now dwindling as her new eyes took its toll on her.

Sakura heard the fox yell out as he hit the floor all bloodied up. She punched the ground. The two Akatsuki avoided that attack, focusing on her now that her teammates were out. Itachi kicked at her. Sakura avoided it, only to get hit in the back with the Samehada. It sucked chakra out of her, enough so that her eyes could no longer perform the jutsu. Blood trickled down her back. She moved out of the way of Kisame's punch. She was suddenly slammed into a tree, a hand on her neck. She shut her eyes, fearing the one who caught was going to use his genjutsu on her.

"Little pink ANBU is scared, Itachi." Kisame chuckled at Sakura's trying to avoid the Uchiha's eyes.

"Kill the Hyuuga over there," Itachi ordered. This caused Sakura to snap her eyes open.

"No!" Sakura looked into Itachi's eyes without realizing it.

"Mangekyo Sharingan." She had been tricked into looking into his eyes. She felt herself black out in that instant. The blue fish grinned at their success. Itachi handed Sakura over to Kisame. Kisame threw Sakura onto his shoulder.

"No, Sakura!" the fox exclaimed. Itachi stepped on the fox's stomach as he struggled to get up.

"It's not your turn yet, little fox. We'll be back for you soon," Itachi told the worried fox. He kicked off the mask. Uzumaki Naruto looked over at the blue fish who now had his sister. His chakra had been drained by that Samehada. The only way he could get more chakra is if he broke the new seal that the Hokage had placed on his nine-tailed fox, but he knew he could possibly kill Sakura in the process. His nine-tailed fox had reached eight tails the last time he lost control. "You'll never see her again, Kyuubi. If you ever do, then you'll see a broken girl," Itachi remarked. He was just trying to anger the blond haired boy. The boy looked up into Itachi's eyes, trapped by his gaze.

"Sakura," Naruto whispered, falling into the effect of Mangekyo Sharingan. The blue fish roared into laughter.

"Hn," Itachi replied, giving his comrade a look that said to get moving.

* * *

The fox and the cat found unconscious a few hours later by a group of gennin and there jounin leader. The jounin was shocked that the two ANBU had been knocked out. She placed a hand on the Hyuuga, healing his wounds with the healing she knew.

"Kyou, Sen, Yuuki, the mission is cancelled for now. Our main objective is to get these two ninjas back to Konoha," the jounin leader ordered.

"But Ino-sensei, we got to go escort someone," the one called Kyou replied. Ino shook her head at them.

"We'll have the Hokage send out a replacement. It's more important that we bring them back to the village," the jounin sensei replied. She walked over to the blonde boy lying on the ground. She healed his major wounds as best as she could. She noticed him struggling and whimpering. He was under a powerful genjutsu. The other boy groaned as he woke up.

"Where?" the ANBU captain asked, looking at his surroundings. He noticed the two gennin standing over him. "Yuuki, Kyou, what are you doing here?" He recognized from whenever he and Konoha 11 would get together for drinks. They were Ino's students. Remembering that, he saw a blonde haired woman kneeling over his fox teammate, her hands glowing with a light green color. He started to recollect his memory, swiftly sitting up.

"Neji, don't get up so fast! You're wounded!" Ino scolded at him. "What happened?"

"We were ambushed." He tried to remember his mission and who had done it. It was coming to him slowly. Ino went back over to him, checking if he opened any wounds. "It was Akatsuki!" This shocked Ino to actually jump at the name. He looked around him, seeing the remnants of the battle. He saw the large craters. "No," he whispered.

"What, Neji-san?" Ino asked, staring at him. He scanned the battlefield and saw it. The monkey mask almost buried into the ground.

"Sakura, where is she?" Neji questioned, giving a look of worry to the mask on the ground. Ino quivered. She hadn't seen her pink haired friend here. Neji activated his Byuukagan with the little chakra he had, scanning for any trace of her chakra.

Nothing, he couldn't find anything. "Neji, where's Sakura-chan?" Neji shook his head at Ino's question.

"Yuuki! Kyou! Sen! We must get to the Sand village now!" Ino barked. She picked up Naruto in her arms. She had enough strength to carry him. Maybe Naruto would know what happened. "Can you walk, Neji?" Ino asked. The Hyuuga nodded in return, limping a little bit as they started to run to the Sand village. The Sand Village was much closer right now than the Konoha village was.

'Please be safe, Sakura-chan,' Ino prayed. She would send a bird to Konoha informing them of what happened once she got to the Sand Village.

* * *

A silver haired ANBU began to wake up from the genjutsu he was under. He scanned the room he was in, seeing the limp bodies of his two teammates. A woman wearing a white coat was looking them over, checking for any more wounds on them.

He was in a hospital. He hated hospitals. The only hospital he would go to would be the one his pink haired ex-student worked at. He heard the two doors to the room slam open, making him go into ninja mode. He and his two fellow ANBU still wore their masks as part of ANBU regulations. They were to remain anonymous at all costs. A brown haired Hyuuga collapsed onto the bed next to the silver haired's female teammate. Seeing the Hyuuga made him think that he had been sent here on a mission. Then he saw blonde haired woman walk in, placing one of his former students onto the bed next to him.

"Ino-san, what happened?" the silver haired ANBU asked.

"Ka-… Wolf-san, these two were ambushed," Ino replied. He noticed the choke in her voice. There was something else he wasn't telling her. The Hyuuga next to his female teammate looked at him. He was hiding something as well.

"By who?" Wolf questioned, expecting them to answer as he snapped at them.

"Akatsuki." Wolf shook at that answer. That was who had attacked his team before he fell under a genjutsu. The two were still hiding something from him.

"What else?" His voice startled them. They looked away, quickly. Ino's three gennin walked into the room, coming to see their jounin sensei.

"Bakas, you need to wait in the waiting room. This is grown up business," she told them. They scowled and quickly left the room. The blonde jounin walked to the doctor who was looking over the girl with the white fox mask. "I'll help. I have medical experience as well." The doctor was relieved that she wasn't the only one here who would be working on the five people restricted to the beds.

"Ino, Neji, you're avoiding my question. What else?" He was now worried for what they were going to say.

"Our mission was to guard our medic-nin while she came here to heal you three," Neji told him quietly afraid anyone else was listening.

"Please tell me the medic-nin was Ino. Please tell me it was her." He looked at his former student who lay on the bed next to him. He heard his whimpers, recognizing it to be the genjutsu he had been under. Neji swallowed the lump in his throat. "Were they after Naruto?" Neji said nothing. He did not want to answer. "Tell me!" A sense of panic echoed in the tone. He cared for his former students more than anyone else.

"Sakura was the medic-nin. When we came to, she was nowhere to be seen." The wolf yelled out, ripping the IV out of his arm, running for the door, only to be stopped by Neji and Ino with brute force.

"Sakura!" the wolf screamed out into the hallway. Tears were streaming under the wolf's mask.

* * *

Jade eyes opened. She shuddered at the genjutsu she had been under. It was so lifelike. Her friends would constantly stab her over and over. It felt weeks.

She coughed at the humid air in the room. She felt drained, most of her chakra gone. Her memory was blank as to what could have happened. It took some time for it all to come back to her. By the time it did, she hadn't hear a door open and shut. She felt around in the dark. She was on a bed with a blanket draped over her. She could tell the room was small. She put a little bit of chakra into her eyes so that she could see in the dark. The pink haired girl then detected the man standing in the corner of the room.

"Hello, kounichi." The man began to walk towards her. His eyes glowed red in the dark. She feared this man now that she was weak.

"Itachi," she recognized.

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So did you likes it? Read and review please. : ) I promise to update this story frequently.


	2. Broken

Hi hi! I'm updating the chapter! Just like I said I would : D Finals are starting at college. And I've kinda been neglecting to do my homework, and I'm afraid my grades are gonna be baaaaaad. Sad face. Warning, bad scenes happen in this chapter.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing… I own Itachi and Sakura… Okay, fine, I don't! But I own this plot.

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Chapter 2

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"The Hokage sent a message back. She said don't do anything stupid and come right back home," the Kazekage ordered to the five ANBU and one jounin standing before him. The white fox and frog masks bowed in compliance. The wolf processed it in his mind, remembering the time a team of gennin and one chunnin went after his former student, Uchiha Sasuke. In their haste, they all killed five sound members, but almost all of them returned half dead. The wolf didn't want to be sedated again after his last outburst in the hospital room. This was the most precious woman in the world to him. She was his little sister.

The unmasked Hyuuga bowed as well, not wanting to anger the Hokage and Kazekage. His cousin was here under the white fox mask. He could tell that she was resisting grabbing her husband's hand to comfort him. She had married Neji's current teammate over a year ago. Said current teammate was trying to not burst into anger at the Hokage's current order. It was his pink haired sister that was taken, and he wanted more than anything to go after her.

The blonde haired jounin took a few moments but then nodded at the order. Her priority was to take care of her students. She just became a sensei five months ago after contemplating for a year because of her failure in the ANBU exams. It hadn't surprised her that the five ANBU in the room had passed the rigorous tests.

"Excuse me, I have to return my gennin and prep them for the journey home," Yamanaka Ino told the red hair Kazekage. He accepted her excuse and allowed her to leave. He understood she had her own things to take care of, and her business was not among the ANBU. The five knew that she also wanted to get home to the most important thing in the world to her, her son.

Ino had a son out of wedlock. He was only a three at the moment. He had been produced out of a night of passion. The father was so shocked but excited. He was only a jounin sensei. He didn't want to become an ANBU and risk his toddler losing him at a young age. That jounin was Ino's old teammate, Nara Shikamaru. The two occasionally fight, but they share a little boy that loved more than anything. This was the main reason why Ino wanted to get home. She knew that her little boy was waiting for her.

"You have your orders." Gaara noticed Uzumaki Naruto beginning to shake with anticipation. "Naruto-san, she can protect herself." Naruto's clenched fist released. Gaara knew the wolf and the Kyuubi were extremely attached to the girl and wanted to get her back now, not later. "Anyone who disobeys the order will be stripped of their rank and will be suspended for two months." Naruto frowned. He was pursuing his dream of Hokage still. Suspension will ruin it. He felt the comforting touch of the white fox's fingers on his shoulder. He sighed.

"Yes, Gaara-sama," Naruto replied, bowing as a symbol of respect.

"Dismissed!" the Kazekage announced. The five ANBU quickly disappeared in a flash.

"Naruto, we leave in an hour," Neji said, noting Naruto's fingers intertwined with the white fox.

"Hai, Neji-san." Naruto lifted up the white fox's mask a little and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. This was his beloved wife. The wolf walked into the room and shook his head at the couple.

"Fox-chan, not while you're in ANBU armor. We're going to escort Yamanaka-san and her gennins back to Konoha," Wolf ordered. "Naruto, Neji-san, you're to help us escort them."

"Hai," the three ANBU replied in monotone. Neji slipped his cat mask on. Naruto slipped his own fox mask on, which was very similar to his wife's. They were in a sealed room to hide what the ANBU were doing for fear that anyone would try to learn their secrets. The four left the room and went to where the frog and Ino waited with the gennin.

"What is our youthful mission, Wolf-kun?" the frog asked, saluting. The cat almost leapt on him at his stupid antics.

"Escort the gennins and get further order from the Hokage." The wolf looked at the three gennin who were amazed at the ANBU who were so intimidating. The cat gave Ino something to put in her pack. She stared it and bit her lip a little. The precious monkey mask that belonged to the jade eyed woman.

"Hai, N-… Cat-kun." She caught herself. She wasn't used to ANBU regulations that prohibit the use of their names as they are to remain anonymous. She slipped the mask into her bag, getting looks from her students who wondering in amazement. "You three need to get onto Frog-san, Wolf-kun, and Cat-kun's back. It'll be much faster for us to get home." The three gennin were reluctant to protest, seeing the three mentioned ANBU looking at them. The orange fox resisted drifting off to thought of his pink haired sister who was stolen away from them. He would get her back as soon as he could.

* * *

Red eyes glowed as he entered the meeting room. "What do you want me to do, Leader-sama?" The leader looked up from his chess game, pursing his lips at the man who stood before him. His own eyes returned to the chess game he was having with his blue haired companion.

"We intend to have her join us, even if its by force. She'll also be useful in luring the nine-tailed fox to us," the leader recalled. Uchiha nodded. "Find a way to break her spirit. Turn her into one of our mindless drones. Take something of hers. Her innocence suggests she may be innocent in all aspects. Take something she's been saving for that brother of yours," the leader explained. Itachi swallowed on that last part. His brother is important to him. He meant for the girl to belong to Sasuke.

"By any means necessary?" the blue haired girl asked, receiving a smirk from the leader.

"Any means," the leader retorted. Itachi knew what he was suggesting. Itachi bowed and quickly left the room. The pink angel would be finally free of his genjutsu soon. He grabbed Kisame by the collar and dragged him. The girl would have all of her chakra back, which meant she would fight. To break her, she would have to be weak.

"Kisame, use the Samehada on Sakura-san." Kisame was confused. "She will not willingly join us." Itachi didn't want to do it. He didn't want to harm her, but he had to. He had to follow the leader's orders.

"You want me to take her chakra?" Kisame asked when Itachi opened the door to her room which was one of the dungeons underground. It was all because she was the greatest medic-nin in the ninja world. Her healing powers made her highly desired by the Akatsuki. He remembered her eyes when he had battled her. She had created her own Byuukagan and Sharingan combined, but it took her a lot of chakra to keep it on. It was also underdeveloped, not enough to match either of the Kekkai Genkai fully yet.

He noticed that Sakura was beginning to relax out of his Mangekyou Sharingan genjutsu. "Now, Kisame." Kisame held the Samehada over her body. Itachi could see the chakra pouring out of her. She began to shiver. Kisame withdrew when he felt that he had taken enough. The blue shark left the dungeon and returned to what he had been doing before he gotten dragged here.

"I'm sorry, Sakura," he whispered to the sleeping girl. Itachi left the room to prepare himself. He may seem cold and emotionless, but there were some things he refrained himself from doing. What he was going to do was one of them. He didn't want to do it.

* * *

Jade eyes opened. She shuddered at the genjutsu she had been under. It was so lifelike. Her friends would constantly stab her over and over. It felt weeks.

She coughed at the humid air in the room. She felt drained, most of her chakra gone. Her memory was blank as to what could have happened. It took some time for it all to come back to her. By the time it did, she hadn't heard a door open and shut. She felt around in the dark. She was on a bed with a blanket draped over her. She could tell the room was small. She put a little bit of chakra into her eyes so that she could see in the dark. The pink haired girl then detected the man standing in the corner of the room.

"Hello, kounichi." The man began to walk towards her. His eyes glowed red in the dark. She feared this man now that she was weak.

"Itachi," she recognized.

Sakura tried to back away from him, but she ran into a wall. She tried to summon a bit of her chakra, but it failed.

"Sakura," Itachi muttered. Sakura stared at him with her night vision eyes. He sat next to her on the bed. He looked so much like his own brother, but she knew that they were nothing alike. Itachi stroked her cheek. It made her lips quiver. He bent down to her lips and kissed her so gently. Her eyes widened. She tried to push him away. Fear rushed through her. Her strength was gone.

"No!" she screamed, summoning as much chakra as she could, punching his shoulder with her right hand. He stumbled back a little. He gave a low growl. He grabbed her hands and pinned them above her head. Sakura whimpered. All her ANBU training up until this moment escaped her.

She had only become an ANBU a year and a half ago. She's only twenty-one, but her brother's already got married. Her best friend already had a three year old toddler. Twenty-one years old and four of her friends had already formed families. Hyuuga Hinata was now Uzumaki Hinata. Uzumaki Naruto was the proud husband. Yamanaka Ino and Naru Shikamaru, although not a couple, share a three year old. Tears tried to come out, but she resisted it. Her she was under the watchful eye of the brother of the boy she once loved.

Itachi stuck his tongue into her mouth. She broke out of her memories and turned her head away. He grabbed her chin roughly, pressing his lips back onto hers. She looked into his eyes. She could see the guilt in his eyes. Was he sorry for what he was doing? She pushed away the thought. He was a cold blooded killer, not a saint. She struggled when his kisses got hungry for her. His fingers started to pull on the strings of her ANBU vest. Fear increased. She kept trying to pulling her hands out of Itachi's grip. Her legs started kicking at him. He got annoyed at her persistent kick. He quickly sat on her, straddling her hips. He was frustrated with the many strings, taking out his kunai. Tears began to stream down her cheeks. He felt pity for her.

"Please don't," she choked. He stared at her for a second. She had never done this before. The thought of stopping floated through his mind, but it quickly dissipated.

Itachi used the kunai to cut the strings that tied her vest onto her. ANBU armor was made of rough material that was almost impossible to rip. He mentally groaned. Sakura realized his problems, starting to feel a sense of safety. She had a short black sleeve silk shirt under the white vest. He quickly let go of her hands, pulling the vest off of her.

Sakura took the chance to escape, but he was still straddling her onto the bed. She used her fists and started hitting his chest. He threw the vest onto the ground, grabbing her hands again and pinning them above her head once more. He took the kunai and started cutting down her silk shirt. He ripped the shirt off of her. She whimpered, her skin and pink bra exposed. "Please stop," she whispered. She felt so scared. The fear in her froze her and overcame her only hope of getting free. She wasn't going to be able to escape.

Her bra hooked in the front. It had been easy access for her when putting her ANBU uniform on. The Uchiha unhooked it, exposing her soft and medium sized breasts. The cool air in the dungeon made her skin go cold. He stared at her breasts. What was he to do now? He bent his head forward, lashing his tongue over the nipple. He bit onto it. She moaned in pain. She had never been touched like this before.

"Please! Stop!" He suckled onto her other breast, making her shiver. He started kissing down her belly. She squirmed. She knew he would go lower. The fear of losing the one thing she had to offer was facing her now. He pulled down the zipper on the side of her white ANBU skirt. She wore black shorts under. He got off of her and removed the black boots that she had been wearing the entire time. He then pulled off the black socks that were underneath them. She was free to move, but she couldn't. The fear had taken over here and stopped from her escaping. She could feel herself escaping from her own body.

He ripped the black short off of her, exposing the last article of clothing she had on her. She was beginning to shake her head when he looked into her eyes. He ripped her pink underwear off. She was naked now, completely naked, and here he was fully dressed. It was only matter of time before he began to take off a piece of his own clothing. He untied the Akatsuki cloak and discarded it to the side. He pulled off his shirt slowly. Sakura took it all in. Her body was visibly shaking.

He removed his own pants. 'Any means necessary,' he heard the leader's voice whisper into his head. His shoes were already thrown to the side, along with his sock. His hearts beat for a few seconds, analyzing the poor girl who was his victim. He removed his underwear. This wasn't what he wanted to do. He shouldn't do it. He can't do it. He took a few breaths. 'Break her.' The leader had given his orders, and this was the way he had to do it.

"I'm sorry, Sakura," he whispered into her ear as he began to lay on top of her.

"No! Please! Stop!"

She let out an ear piercing scream. So much pain. It hurt her to feel him inside her. She could feel the blood seeping through her. She kept begging him to stop. She continued to cry out. It killed her inside.

* * *

Itachi draped the Akatsuki cloak over her naked body. He pulled his clothes back on slowly, thinking about what he had just done. She stared at the wall, at nothingness. He could tell that she would never be the same again. He regretted what he had done. He was so sorry for what he had done to her. Tear were streaming down her face. The least he could do was hold her while she cried. He sat down beside her and brushed a strand of pink hair out of her face.

"I'm sorry, Sakura. I'm sorry," he whispered. He picked her up bridal style and held her close to him. He rocked her back and forth. He kept whispering it to her, hoping that she would listen.

The warmth, that was all she could feel. She let out soft whimpers as she cried some more. She could hear his apologies, over and over again, but she could never forgive him, could she? In the arms of the rapist, she quickly fell to sleep, nightmares invading her dreams again and again of what he had done to her.

* * *

The Hokage stared at the ANBU that stood before her. "Fox-kun, fox-chan, you are to stay here."

"What? But Tsunade-baa-chan! We have to go after her!" The orange fox exclaimed. The white fox grabbed his hand and held him back.

"We can't. You heard her. We have to stay here." She wrapped her arms around his waist, giving him only the comfort his loving wife can give him. He relaxed a little.

"Wolf-san, cat-san, you two will track where she may have gone. For now, we cannot risk sending a full team into the wilderness, not knowing where she could be." The two mentioned nodded. "The Akatsuki have several bases so it may take a while to find which one she is at if she is even there at all." The orange fox flinched.

"Don't say that, baa-chan! She's still alive!" the fox snapped. Tsunade glared at him. He tensed up under her gaze.

"I'm not saying she is dead. I'm saying she might be. We don't know what the Akatsuki are going to do with her." The frog nodded.

"She will keep up her youthful ways and continue to fight!" the frog announced. The orange fox smiled under his mask at the frog's little comment.

"Find her soon, please," Tsunade said to the two people she had recruited. "You leave tomorrow at noon."

"Hai!" the two bowed with their fists on their chest.

"Fox-kun, I suggest you go to the jails." He looked at her, thinking as to why she would request them of her.

"He's getting lonely in there. He's only got four months until he gets out and then the one year of probation." Fox-chan felt her husband nod to the Hokage. He'd been in there for five years. It was time Fox-kun paid a visit again.

"Hai, Tsunade-sama."

"Dismissed!"

Fox-kun and fox-chan quickly returned home to remove their ANBU gear. They lived in the Hyuuga mansion.

"It'll be okay, Naruto-kun," Hinata told him, giving him sweet kisses on his back as he looked out the window. He turned around and held his beloved in his arms. He felt the tears come up and began to sob onto her chest.

* * *

"Took you long enough to visit. It's been a month already, dobe." Dobe looked into the jail cell that the man was being held in.

"Teme," he acknowledged. Teme had a chakra seal on him, so he wouldn't be able to use his chakra and escape. His onyx eyes blinked, seeing Dobe was different than usual.

"Naruto, what happened?" Naruto look at the Teme. He gave a half smile.

"Nothing, Sasuke. Nothing." Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows.

"You're a terrible liar." He'd only been out of the jail cell once, and that was when he attended Naruto's wedding with Hinata. Their one year anniversary would be coming up soon. "Tell me. Did Hinata leave you?" Naruto glared at him.

"Of course not. Why would she?" Naruto responded with a hateful tone. Five years and one month ago, Sasuke had returned to the village. Sakura had brought him back, convinced to give up on his plans for revenge. She convinced him that they will work together. Of course, Sasuke did leave the village for four years, so Tsunade had to sentence him five and a half years in prison and one year on probation. Sakura. The name floated in Sasuke's mind. She would visit him every week, telling him about the daily happenings of the village life.

"Dobe, where's Sakura? I haven't seen her in two weeks." Naruto gulped.

"She's on a mission. She didn't tell me how long it would be." Sasuke stared at Naruto for five seconds, calculating it in his mind. Although it shouldn't seem like a lie, he knew it was.

"Dobe, you're a liar."

"I can't tell you, teme."

"Tell me."

"No!" Naruto stepped away from the jail cell as Sasuke reached out to him. "Can we move on to something else? I can't tell you where she is." This was the truth. He didn't know where she was. He just knew who with.

"Fine. What else do you have to tell me? Or are you going to keep more things from me." He was in solitude, locked away from the world. He had no idea what was happening. Only Sakura and Naruto would tell him. Sometimes Kakashi would come by and tell him. Sometimes he heard the guards talking about rumors.

"Hinata and I are thinking about starting our family in six months," he said, sitting on a stool in front of the jail cell.

"Congrats. So why wait six months?"

"Well, we have missions, and Hinata wants to keep going on these missions for a while until she's ready to give up for two years to become a mother. Need more explanation, teme?" Naruto replied.

"Yeah. Where's Sakura? What happened to her?" Naruto punched the jail bars.

"I can't tell you, teme!" he yelled. A guard walked down the hallway.

"Sir, please do not punch the bars." Naruto nodded in compliance.

"I got to go, teme. I'll tell Hinata that you said congratulations." Sasuke was annoyed that Naruto wouldn't answer him.

"I'll find out, eventually!" Sasuke yelled at Naruto as he opened the door to leave the hallway.

"Someday," Naruto whispered.

* * *

Sakura woke with a startle. She could still feel it. She could still feel that aching pain. She looked around the room, feeling a little bit of her chakra had come back. She stood up on her feet. Flashes of what happened popped into her head. It made her dizzy and weak.

She was still wrapped in the Akatsuki cloak. Her clothes were basically ruined except for her bra, vest, skirt, and boots, but they weren't comfy to wear without any layers below them. She searched around the room, her eyes glazing over a table in the corner. On its surface was a black t-shirt folded up and black shorts. There was also a pair of underwear amongst them.

Her nose could smell it, the smell of tomato soup and garlic bread. She eyed the tray that was on the table with a glass of water.

Was it poisoned? She hadn't eaten in so long. She didn't care to check. If there was poison, it would put her out of her misery. She gulped down the tomato soup, chomping down the bread. What was she doing?

Tears began to stream down her cheeks again. Her innocence had been taken away from her. She should be lying in bed, starving herself, not wanting to live any longer. She summoned a bit of chakra to her hands. It would be enough to bust down the door. Maybe there would be enough to search for an exit, to search for her way to freedom. She put her clothes back on one piece at a time, her body aching from everything that had happened to her. The new t-shirt was a bit large on her, and the shorts and underwear fit nicely.. She put the vest back on. There was no way to tie it onto her. She searched in the vest. He had taken all her weapons and scrolls, all her things. She would have to be fast and avoid getting hit and avoid fighting.

With chakra in her hand, she broke down the door. She looked back and forth down the hallways. Of course someone would hear the large noise she just made. She slinked into the shadows, beginning to walk through the place. She made it to some stairs, but she stopped when she saw the man now standing before her.

"Sakura." She shook her head. It rushed back to her. The tears threatened her again.

"No! Don't touch me!" She launched a chakra filled fist at him. He caught it, making a hand sign and touching her on her neck. He released her hand. She realized he had done something stupid by letting her go. She gathered the chakra into her hand again, but when she punched him in the chest, the chakra didn't go anywhere. He had sealed her chakra.

"But how? Those kinds of jutsu are only known by interrogators." Itachi reached out his hand and brushed a strand of her hair back. She recoiled. This monster had stolen something precious from her. He stepped towards her. The fear came back to Sakura. "N-no! Please stay away from me." She stepped away, tripping on her own feet and fell backwards onto her butt on the cold hard floor.

"I'm sorry." He had said this again and again, and he meant it. She yelped when he knelt by her side. She was shaking from fear again. He picked her up bridal style, holding her to his chest.

"Please leave me be, Itachi. Please," she sobbed silently. He walked her back to her room and put her back on her bed.

"I'm sorry," he whispered to her. He left the room. He made sure to lock the door at the top of the stairs, now that her own door was gone. He calmed in self and regained his coldness as he returned to the other Akatsuki.

"Leave me alone, please." She whispered this into the dark, whispered this to nothing.

* * *

Gah, I hated myself for writing that scene. It made me feel bad for doing that to her. Forgive me? I hope there wasn't much OOCness in here. I tried not to, but it was hard.

Poor Sakura. D: Maybe better things will happen for her soon, and yes, Sasuke is in jail.

Read and review please!


	3. Faint

Merry Christmas! Wait… It's not Christmas…. XD I knew that.

See see! I update! Wait. D: Why did I get a death glare in my reviews? It's annoying the crap out of me, and it was an anonymous user. I want answers!

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing except for this plot. I also own Itachi. I don't? Fine. I don't own him.

* * *

Chapter 3: Faint

* * *

"_Sasuke," a young woman called. He looked at her through the jail cell. She gave him a bright smile._

"_Sakura," he whispered. She smiled and reached a hand through the jail cell. She sat down on the metal stool in front of the metal bars. He took her small hand and intertwined his fingers with her._

"_I became an ANBU today," she announced, excited. A sense of worry floated in Sasuke's onyx eyes. Her jade eyes noticed this. "I'll be fine, Sasuke." She had stopped the suffix Kun long ago months after he started his sentence in this prison._

"_I know you will. I'm just worried about the idiots who dare fight you." She giggled at his comment. Her hand relaxed in his. The hand had always been a way to give some kind of comfort in this cold cell. They had started this exchange two year ago when Sakura caught a rare moment of him, a single tear he shed. He was lonely with his thoughts. No doubt his mind would wander to the day he lost his family. Sasuke would go crazy if he didn't talk to anyone who he knew personally. She squeezed and gave him a sweet smile. She rested her forehead between the two bars her arm was in. That was when Sasuke kissed her._

_

* * *

_

Sakura awoke with a startle. She had been here for a month now. The chakra seal was still on her. She tugged on her blanket as she felt a wave of nausea come over her. She felt sickened.

She sat up and swept her legs over the dungeon bed, rushing to the door in the corner of her room.

It led to a simple bathroom, tiled floors with a drain on the floor with a shower overhead. The toilet was separated by a small wall. A laundry basket sat in front of the toilet. Every two days she would take a shower when she found new clothes sitting on the table in her room. They were all the same, large black t-shirt, black knee long shorts, and a pair of black undies. No color whatsoever.

She leaned over the toilet and threw up chunks of her breakfast that she had before napping. A couple of chunks of eggs, toast, and some orange juice. She closed her eyes. Seeing the puke made it ever worse. Why was she here?

She had been exploring the dungeons off and on, looking into open doors. She was the only prisoner here as far as she could tell. Her room was a bit more luxurious than the others. Some didn't have bathrooms. They would have drain pipes in the corner of the room and that was it. Some didn't even have beds to sleep on. Instead they would have chains in the room for future prisoners. Each door had a slot to slip food and other smalls items under.

She heard footsteps in the hallway, different from Itachi's. The lamp on the ceiling of her room flickered. The sudden darkness gave her peace. The light coming back on made her head spin. She rushed back to the toilet again, the nausea reaching up to her throat.

"You getting sick there, girly?" A man with blue skin and shark like teeth peered into her bathroom. She glared at him. This was the first time she had seen him since her kidnapping.

"Why? Should it be any concern of yours?" He frowned at her. His face tensed.

"Of course not." Sakura pushed herself up from her kneeling position.

"Why don't you just kill me already?" she asked, brushing her fingers through her greasy hair. She may have a shower, but all she got with it was a towel and a bar of soap, no shampoo or conditioner. Kisame thought about her idea, contemplating it over. Why did Akatsuki need her?

She turned on the shower and wiped her mouth with the cold water. He was staring at her. "If Itachi can have a piece of you, why can't I?" Her eyes widened, and she turned towards him. His boots began to slosh and squeak as he walked towards her. She slowly backed up, fear washing over her again. Her back collided with the wall. She was powerless against with her chakra sealed. Soft whimpers escaped her as he raised a hand up. The fish man knew what had been done to her.

The loud cracked echoed in the bathroom. He had slammed the back of her head into the wall. He released her forehead as she slid down to the ground, moaning from the throbbing pain. She automatically clasped onto the back of her head, feeling the wet stickiness. Blood. He had crack her head.

Tears slid down her fqce.

"Kisame, what are you doing here?" a masculine voice asked. She started to visibly shake when she looked in to the man's red eyes. The man called turned to look at those red eyes.

"I was just giving the girl a welcoming gift."

"You are not to touch her. Did leader-sama give you orders to hurt her?"

"Of course not in the way you did, Itachi." Sakura slumped to the side, pressing her ear to the ground. She could hear the shower pour out like rain, drowning out the voices. The cold water tingled against her cheek. She could see red liquid begin to flow to the drain pipe in the middle of the floor.

"I think she might be sick. She was throwing up when I got here," Kisame explained, watching the blood flow from her. On cue, she threw up the last of her breakfast. That too started washing away into the drain. She knew it was probably from the throbbing headache she now had.

"Was that before or after you broke her skull?" Itachi pushed Kisame out of the way, kneeling by her side, his Akatsuki cloak getting soaked. He reached his fingers out to the back of her head.

"No!" she screamed. She flinched and jolted her heated into the wall again. Her vision began to get blurry from excessive head trauma.

"Sakura, I won't hurt you." This caused her to yelp when she felt his chakra in the back of her head. "You could've killed her, Kisame." Itachi was checking the damage. His chakra soon left her. He stood up and looked at his partner.

"Leader said I could scare her a little. That was all." Itachi threw a kunai at Kisame, which the fish man dodged. Kisame was scared of the Uchiha.

"Get out of here," Itachi ordered. He picked Sakura up bridal style.

"No. Let me go," Sakura whispered, his touch made more memories flood into her mind. She couldn't struggle. She was too weakened by her bleeding head. Kisame quickly fled, fearing that Itachi would show more anger. Sakura hit Itachi's lightly, not having the strength to actually hurt him. He passed by the bed, carrying her. She noticed the scenery beginning to change.

"He cracked your head. You need to see a medic." He was taking her up the stairs. She was leaving the dungeon. Itachi walked down a long dark hallway, much different from the cold stone hallway below. He stopped before an open door.

"What, Itachi?" she heard. She didn't bother to look to see who spoke.

"Kisame scared her too much and broke her head open. I need to take her to town, since we have no medic here, except her, but I don't think she's capable of healing herself right now," Itachi explained. The man he was talking to grunted back, a tone that he could go. Itachi nodded in reply, continuing towards the end of the hallway. "Sakura, sleep." She looked up at his red eyes when she heard his worried tone and immediately fell under his temporary genjutsu, slipping into unconsciousness.

* * *

_Tsunade,_

_No sign of Sakura yet. We've checked many places, but found them all to be empty. Cat and I are going to split up to cover more land. We'll notify if either of us finds any trace of where she may be. We'll wait for more of your orders._

_It's been a month, but all traces of her have led to dead ends._

_-Wolf_

The silver haired ANBU watched the messenger bird fly away. He nodded to his cat teammate.

The cat waved to the wolf. He headed off to the Land of Grass, while the wolf headed to the Land of Waterfall. They both knew what their objective was, and they would complete it by any means necessary. Find Sakura and notify Konoha where she is.

* * *

She felt a needle going through her head over and over. Her eyes would flutter open, but then shut at the bright light above her. "Will she be okay?"

"Most likely. Although I wonder how she could get such a nasty wound," a woman spoke. The needle pierced another piece of her skin again, but it was numb. She squeezed her eyes and then slowly opened them. She saw the black cloak with red clouds standing in front of her. Her eyes traveled up the cloak. She flinched when she saw his red eyes staring into her own.

"Could she be delirious?" he asked the woman who was apparently sewing her head back up. A tear trickled down Sakura's pale face.

"Possibly, but there's no concussion. You said she was throwing up before?" the woman asked. She began to tie the string and cut the loose thread. Itachi nodded.

"She's been doing so for a couple of days. Could she be sick?" He'd obviously been hearing her throwing up every so often whenever he came to check up on her.

"I'll have to run some blood tests."

"I want to go home," Sakura whispered. "Please, nurse lady. This man has kidnapped me." She could see Itachi visibly glaring at her.

"Wow, you must be delirious if you think your own husband kidnapped you," the medic said. She heard the woman stand up from her seat. Itachi had told a lie to the medic, and she had believed him. Itachi gave Sakura a look that said that he'll kill the medic if she says any more.

"Yeah, delirious," Sakura chuckled weakly.

"You may sit up now," the medic ordered. Sakura tried to move but found it too hard. Itachi came to her side and helped turn her onto her back. He rested a hand on the small of her back and sat behind her, sitting her up. She reluctantly leaned against him. This was a citizen clinic, not a ninja clinic. Her eyes scanned the room. She saw the medic writing notes down onto a clipboard. The medic was in her forty's. She's probably seen plenty of normal wounds, hardly ever seeing bad ones. She had little patches of grey in her brown hair. The medic returned with a needle and a vial.

"What?" she asked softly, questioning her surroundings.

"I need to get a blood test. It seems your sick," the woman explained, propping Sakura's left arm onto to a wooden board.

"I don't need one!" The medic ignored her and checked her arm for a visible vein.

"We also have to make sure you didn't get any infection from that hole in your head," the medic explained. She rubbed a cloth on Sakura's arm once a vein was found. It numbed the arm a little. She took the large needle and stuck it her arm.

Sakura wished she could access her chakra and take care of herself. She could figure out why she was sick easily if she was allowed too, but Itachi didn't want to take any risks. She would fight back fast. She watched her blood run through the tube into the little vial. The vial soon filled up. "Come back in an hour, and I'll have the results for you." She could feel Itachi nodding his head. The medic took out the needle and wrapped a bandage around her arm, holding for a couple second to stop the bleeding.

"Come on, Sakura," Itachi whispered in her ear. She tensed up automatically at the closeness. She shivered when he stood up and was towering above her. He took her hand and helped her stand up. She stumbled a little into Itachi's chest. "We'll get some lunch while we wait," Itachi explained to the nurse.

"Alright, see you soon." The medic waved them off, watching Itachi have Sakura link her arm with his. She held onto it for support, the dizziness of blood loss still washing over her. Her eyes winced when she saw the daylight. Itachi ignored her pain, dragging her along down the small cobble stone sidewalk. He walked her towards to an open dirt road. She could smell the whiff of food in the shops along the road.

"Where are we?" Itachi ignored her question. Of course, why would she find out if she was a prisoner? He led her into a small ramen shop.

"Two beef ramen," Itachi ordered to the ramen man at the bar. He set her down into a booth. He sat next to her, trapping her in. There was no hope for escape for her right now. The moment the ramen bowls were set in front of them her mouth watered. She hadn't ramen since she last left Konoha. Naruto hadn't been allowed to take instant ramen with him on the journey.

Naruto… She missed him. She wondered where he was, if he was safe, if he got to his wife in Sand. He was probably worried about Sakura, pacing back and forth every day, waiting for a notice if she had been found yet. Her little brother would have all the comfort he would need from his Hyuugan wife who cared for him more than anything in the world.

She split the chopstick apart, a single tear dropping onto her hand. Itachi noticed this, but he said nothing of it. He began eating ramen in the most polite way he could. He didn't slurp like Naruto would. He wouldn't ask for twenty more bowls. She wondered how her current team was doing. Her squad was made of her, her ANBU captain, Neji, and her little brother Naruto. They were only a three man team, which was common for some ANBU missions. She would've preferred to have Kakashi as her captain, but she accepted it quickly after realizing how good the Hyuuga captain was. He was quick and hard to beat in a fight. His Byuukagan made it easy to watch out for rogue ninja and thieves.

She took a bite of the ramen, feeling instant joy. This was as good as Ichiraku ramen, but it was still made of home. She finished her bowl quickly, reluctant to ask for another one. It had warmed up her stomach. She scanned the restaurant. There were some ninjas here. None from Konoha. There were one or two from Sand and five from Grass. There were three from Rock as well. "Itachi, why did you take me?" This question had been pondering her mind the last four weeks.

"Our purpose is to get you to join Akatsuki." Her eyes widened in surprise at him. There was no way she would ever choose to join them.

"Never," Sakura whispered to him.

"You don't have a choice. We'll attack your village and take the Kyuubi if you don't." She could tell he was lying. They would go after Naruto one day as it seemed that was their goal in the first place, to take all the Tailed Beasts, but if she joined, she could delay it for as long as she could. "We need your medic skills in case anything bad happens on a mission." She knew this was probably true. Her medic skills had surpassed Tsunade's. She noticed some of the ninjas in the store eyeing her. Of course they would be looking at her. Her pink hair stood out anywhere, and her sitting next to an Akatsuki made it even worse. She looked out on the street, noticing village people crowding, making it easy to get lost. The server came by with their bill, and Itachi immediately paid it.

Sakura saw the stares of the ninja return to whatever they were eating. Itachi held a hand out to her. She placed her hand in it, feeling shivers. She took her hand back as the moments in the dungeon popped into her head. Itachi could understand this as he was patient. "I'm sorry, Sakura," he whispered, knowing what she was thinking. He had apologized over a million times in the last month. She took his hand again reluctantly. She was still scared of him. She probably would be for the rest of her life, the man who stole her innocence in blood.

Her eyes peered over to the two Sand ninja. They were Konoha allies. No doubt they had heard about the Hokage's apprentice going missing. 'Help me,' she mouthed to them as Itachi began to lead her out of the ramen shop. They saw her plea for help, but it was a question if they wanted to actually rescue her when she could be just trapping them.

She felt Itachi's tug on hers as they walk through the growing crowds in the street. She loosened the grip in her hand slowly. She noticed them approaching the cobble stone sidewalk they had come from. She waited for Itachi to be distracted for at least one split second. He was watching the sidewalk, not paying attention to her. She tore her hand out of his, making a run through it for the crowds. She didn't care where she was going as long as she got away from him.

"Sakura!" he yelled. He was chasing her. He kept his eyes on her, trying not to lose her in the hustle and bustle of the crowd. She kept running, eventually running into someone's chest. She looked up at the man she had run into. It was a grass nin.

"Hey, girl. Watch where you're going!" the nin yelled at her. He raised a hand to her face. She was frozen in the spot. The hand was caught by another.

"Don't you dare touch her." The grass nin backed off at the man now behind her. He quickly ran away in fear of the red eyes the man possessed. An arm wrapped around her. "Try that again, and I'll put you out for the next week," he whispered into her ear, a threat, one he probably would go through with. She froze up in fear at his threat, scared of what he may do to her. Itachi led her back to the cobble stone sidewalk. This time he kept a grip on her elbow, not loosening it at all. She prayed for forgiveness. The sand nins never came for her, probably scared of the Akatsuki with her.

"Oh, good! You're back!" the medic said when Itachi opened the door to the small clinic. No one was around. It was probably hardly ever busy. Itachi sat Sakura back onto the bed. She sighed, wondering if escape would ever be possible. Not right now with her chakra being sealed.

"So did you find out what's going on?" Itachi asked. Sakura looked up at the medic's excited brown eyes. She had wrinkles on her face.

"Well, you might want to sit down, Mr. Uchiha. This might overwhelm you!" Itachi shook his head slowly. He would not sit down. He was a ninja. The medic was beaming at Sakura. Sakura felt uncomfortable under her gaze.

"Congratulations, Mrs. Uchiha!" Sakura had a questioning look on her face. What the heck was she saying congratulations for? "You're pregnant!" Sakura took this as a cue to faint. Itachi was stunned by the news.

* * *

Cue the horror music. Yes, how suprising. Maybe it wasn't. Up to you guys. So there was a little tiny SasuSaku in the beginning, but no, this is not going to be a SasuSaku story.

Omg, Sakura's pregnant. Yay? No yay? I don't know, what do you think? This is perfect for a scene I have in my mind later. XD

Read and review please! I want reviews so I'll be more and more excited to keep updating! : D


	4. Worry

Yello! Update! Update! Yay? : D

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Yada yada yada. I own the plot. Blah blah. Itachi isn't mine. : (

* * *

Chapter 4: Worry

* * *

"_Sasuke, please." He turned to look at her. He sighed._

"_Sakura, I told you, not until I get my revenge." She gazed at him. She stepped forwards to him and placed a hand on his shoulder._

"_Sasuke," she whispered. She clenched her fist. "I promise you. It will happen eventually, just not right now." What would the weasel do right now anyways if he was allowed to live for a little bit longer? How wrong she could be. Sasuke stared into the distance, watching the man walk away. The black cloak with red clouds was trailing away. This was Sasuke's chance._

_She took his hand in hers. He looked at her worried eyes. His eyes softened. "Alright, I'll wait."_

"_Will you come with me?" Sasuke nodded, looking back one more time to see the man with black cloak was gone._

_

* * *

_

Sasuke sat in the cell, watching the clouds outside. He had a little window to peer out, but it had several bars to keep him from getting out. It wouldn't do him any good anyways with his chakra sealed.

"Teme," he heard a man call.

"Dobe." He looked at him.

"How are you?" He was sitting down on the metal stool.

"I'm fine, Naruto. It's been a month since I last saw you," Sasuke replied. He took in Naruto's appearance. His blonde hair was spiked yet some of it was straightened down to his shoulder. His blue eyes were more mature than they were when they were twelve. He still had a bit of immatureness to him.

"I'm sorry about that. Been going on missions, anniversary stuff, taking care of Hinata, and helping with the preparations for her ceremony. You heard her father passed away right? A few months ago. That makes her the head now. She's waiting a little bit longer for when Neji returns," the Kyuubi replied. He had a nice romantic, candlelight dinner with his wife, and they spent the night cuddling in each other's arms. He had left a trail of roses to their bedroom.

"And where did Neji go?" Sasuke asked. He saw the hesitation in Naruto's eyes.

"Mission." Simple and true.

"Is it a classified mission?" He was hoping it would lead somewhere. He has only three months until his sentence is over.

"No, but I'd rather not say."

"Is he on a mission with Sakura?" Naruto nodded. It was sort of true. "Sakura's been on an awfully long mission." Naruto eyed him wearily.

"Yeah. You know how missions can go. They could only take an hour and sometimes they could take years." He hoped it wouldn't be years. He was worried about her.

"Well. How about you quit lying to me, Naruto? Your little visits don't help when all you do is avoid anything to do with Sakura," Sasuke retorted. He grasped onto the jail bars and stared right into Naruto's eyes. Naruto saw the warning in Sasuke's eyes. If Naruto kept this going on any longer, Sasuke would go insane.

"Sit down, teme." Naruto watched Sasuke sit onto his own metal stool. The Uchiha was waiting for him to speak. "Sakura," Naruto gulped, "She was taken about a month ago."

"What?" Sasuke snapped. He punched the wall next to him.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke. She was kidnapped, and Neji and Kakashi are on the mission to find her," Naruto explained.

"Who took her?" Naruto shook his head at him. "Who?"

"Sasuke, I-I can't." He took that moment to leave.

"Naruto! Come back! Naruto!" His yells for his name continued until the door at the end of the hallway slammed shut. "Naruto!"

* * *

"She'll have to return to the doctor in two weeks to get the stitches removed," Itachi said. He had already put Sakura back in her cell. She still hadn't come to after hearing the news at the medic's office. "Leader-sama." The orange haired man looked at him. His partner was sitting on the couch next to him, reading a book. The woman was leaning against him content with her position and with the novel she was delving into.

"What is it you need to tell me, Itachi?" The Uchiha was still stunned by what he heard.

"Sakura is… Sakura is… pregnant," Itachi muttered. The blue haired partner dropped her book.

"Ever heard of protection?" the leader retorted. Itachi tensed at the leader's mockful tone.

"I have, but the thought of doing it to her was much more overpowering than thinking about what was needed," Itachi explained in the most monotone voice he could. The leader stood up.

"We'll have to abort it then." In that moment, Itachi wanted to throw the multiple pierced man at a wall.

"I would rather not. It is after all-" He paused, seeing the leader waiting for an answer. He wanted to say it was his child. Killing his clan so long ago had caused panic for him and depressed him a little. Saving his brother from death had given a bit of hope, but it was lonely being the only Uchihas in the world.

"It's what?" The orange haired man was getting impatient with Itachi.

"If we kill the child, then Sakura would never join us. She would have much distaste for us for the rest of her life." This was the most valid reason Itachi could give that wouldn't make it seem like he had any emotions at all. The leader nodded.

"Fine, but when the child is born, I want you to take it somewhere. We can't have any children here. That is not what Akatsuki is for. It's a dangerous society."

"Hai, leader-sama." Itachi bowed and left the room. The rest of Akatsuki were at other bases. He, the couple, and Kisame were the only ones here, but soon the couple would leave and return to Rain as it is their main base. Eventually some of the other members would visit, but not right now.

* * *

_Hokage,_

_I have scoped the Grass Country and have found some signs of recent Akatsuki sightings. I will explore some more and keep you on notice if I have any more information. I await for more orders and hope that Sakura will be found soon._

_-Cat_

_

* * *

_

Sakura stared up at the ceiling. Her hands traced down her stomach to the bottom. Life. She was carrying life. She had never known what Ino meant when she said it would be the most precious thing in the world. The idea of life being inside her. She had learned this a month ago. Her stitches were now gone from her head, and the medic said she would offer to do monthly checkups. Sakura decided she would accept it. A child's life was important to her, losing her own child would break her heart.

Itachi looked into her dungeon room. He could see the little grin on her face. It troubled him to see her so happy. He cleared his throat, disturbing her happiness.

Two months ago, she lost all hope, but now, she had that hope back. It was strange how the thought of a child could change her.

"Sakura," he called. She stared at him. A small tiny shiver ran up her back. The memories still scared her. No matter what she thought of him, it would always come back to haunt her. The way he had touched her, forced her to lose what would make her a woman. The pain would sometimes creep back to her.

"Yes, Itachi-san?" He wondered how she had the confidence to speak to him again. Most of the time she would tell him to go away. Itachi took a step towards her, which in turn made her step back instinctively. There was a small bit of fear still left in her. She let out a small breath of relief when Itachi didn't make another move towards her.

"The doctor appointment is today." Her eyes brightened a little. She had unconsciously placed her hands on her stomach.

"Alright, let's go," she replied happily. She shouldn't be so happy when she was in the presence of her rapist.

She studied the hallway upstairs as they passed several doors, normal door unlike the metal ones in the dungeon. She wondered why no one had yet to fix her door. Itachi stopped her when they reached the end of the hallway. He put a finger up to tell her to wait. Could she take this chance to run? No. Itachi was back in a matter of seconds with a cloak in hand and a bamboo hat.

"What?" she questioned. He put the hat on her, which made her flinch. He threw the cloak around her arms tugging on it a little. "Why?" He hushed her and turned towards the door.

"To keep a disguise." He hadn't done it before when she was last in the town. Why now? He put a bamboo hat on himself. He picked her up bridal style and opened the door, opening it up to the warm outside. She stared at her surroundings, but she knew she wouldn't figure out where they were.

Itachi made a hand sign and everything disappeared. They were suddenly in the town. He used the teleportation jutsu that most ANBU knew. Sakura knew it but hadn't put much practice into it. It also took a lot of chakra. He placed her back on the ground. They were already on the cobble stone sidewalk. She looked back at the busy dirt road passing through the town. It was just normal citizens and a couple of ninjas passing through. When they opened the door to the medic, they were greeted with a huge smile.

"Ah, Mr. and Mrs. Uchiha, I was wondering when you would get here. I'll be doing a blood test, a urine test, and check your current weight today." Sakura nodded. She knew all this from her own medical experience.

She had several thoughts over the last month about having this baby. She was scared. Sometimes she would cry. Sometimes she would think of the happy moments she would have with this baby, feeding it and seeing it smile for the first time. She would think of the sweet lullabies she would sing to it, but she was scared what it could do to her. This child would affect her life completely. He or she would be slowing down her career. She would remember Ino and how her son had affected her training and her ninja skills, which greatly impacted her results in the ANBU exam.

A child would put a strain on her over the next few months. The child would be feeding off her chakra. She knew the Akatsuki would probably want her to abort this child, but Itachi never said anything of it. Abortion was an option to her, but whenever she thought about Ino, she would remember how happy Ino was to have her son in her arms. She had been there for the delivery. The eyes a mother could have when seeing their baby for the first time would light up and be the brightest ever. Life. They had brought life into this world. She didn't want to lose that.

She knew she would regret her decision of aborting the child for the rest of her life. Sakura had once had to give an abortion to young teenage ninja. She was young, only fifteen, two years younger than Ino was when she had her son. The teenage girl experienced depression for two months. She almost committed suicide in the middle of her depression. Tsunade had to sedate her and restrict her from her ninja duties for a few months.

Abortion would always make her wonder what her baby was going to be like. Whether it would have been adorable, whether it would have been a genius or the best ninja in the world, whether it was a girl or a boy. She chose not to go through with it. Itachi came into her room one day, and she told him, "I want to keep this baby." He glanced at her for a second, wondering why she was determined to keep it. He kept quiet and accepted it. Why had he been okay with it? The question would float in her mind every day.

Sakura brushed her fingers through her hair when they left the office. The medic knew they were ninja. Did she even know what the Akatsuki were? All the tests come out normal, and she was healthy. She looked up at Itachi who was looking off into the distance. She followed his gaze.

The crowd had grown even larger, but one person was not moving. She stared at the person. "Neji," she whispered. He had finally found her. He was watching them behind a cat mask. Sakura began to move towards him. Itachi grabbed her elbow. She had forgotten he was here. All she could think of was freedom. "Let me go!" she screamed. Itachi pulled her towards him. He wouldn't have the time to conjure a teleportation jutsu. "Neji!" The Hyuuga began to walk towards them. Screw ANBU protocol. She was going to call his real name.

"Sakura!" he called back to her. She felt a tear drop off her cheek. Freedom was here for her. Freedom had come for her. Everything moved so fast. She was in Itachi's grip, in his arms. He was carrying her. He was already on the rooftops. She knew Neji would follow.

"No! Let me go! Neji!" She looked around Itachi at him. Neji threw a kunai at the Uchiha's back. She wish she had her chakra back at that moment. Itachi avoided the knife and started running with her. She struggled and started punching his chest several times. It did nothing. Without her chakra would only be pokes to him. "Neji!" They were in the forest now. "You jerk! Put me down!" she yelled at Itachi. Neji was catching up to them. He threw a couple shuriken at them.

She heard the clash of metal. She saw the blue hair. Itachi stopped to see who had deflected the weapons for them. She struggled even more now that they were stopped.

"Itachi, get to the base. Get the medic nin there," a woman's voice ordered.

"Hai, Konan-sama," was his soft reply. He started to run again.

"No! Neji!" Sakura watched the blue haired Akatsuki square off with the brown haired Hyuugan. "Damn it! You stupid Uchiha! Let me the hell go!" She'd forgotten who she was. She was an expecting mother. She saw another Akatsuki blur go past them and to where Konan and Neji were fighting. "I swear to Kami! If you kill him!" She hushed when she realized they were already inside the building.

Itachi didn't stop running. He kept running, opening the metal door to downstairs. He was already beside her bed before she knew it. He gently put her down. She tried to kick him. Itachi caught her leg. She kicked him with her other leg which he also caught. He was on the bed now, holding both legs up. She was laying on her back.

"Quiet, Sakura." She felt so exposed in this position. She felt the intensifying dark aura surrounding Itachi. She was his prey. He could do anything he wanted to her right now. The tears started to flow again. The last time she had been on the bed with Itachi was that horrifying night.

"Please don't." His eyes softened at her pleas.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. He let go of her legs, and she made no effort to move as her legs fell to his side. The fear had frozen her. "I'm sorry." It made no difference. She was deathly afraid of him. He pulled her into his arms and cradled her. Her sobs escaped her. Her wails increased as she remembered that night, what he had done to her. "I'm sorry." Her cries wouldn't stop. "Sakura, the baby," he reminded. The baby, Sakura, the baby. Too much stress could cause harm to it. She quieted down, sniffling.

"Itachi, please. Leave me alone." He gently laid her down on the bed. He regained his cold composure. She stared at the wall, hearing his soft footsteps walking back down the hallway and the shutting of the door upstairs and the click of the lock.

* * *

_Cat, _

_Pursue the Akatsuki sightings. Follow them if you can, but do not let yourself get caught. If you see Sakura, send a messenger bird back immediately. Then wait for further orders._

_-Tsunade_

_

* * *

_

"Baa-chan, have you heard anything from Kakashi-sensei and Neji-san?" The blonde looked at the chair turned away from him. It was turned towards the window. The Hokage was in thought. She turned around towards him.

"Naruto, Cat-san has gotten a lead on the Akatsuki," Tsunade replied.

"That's great! Where were they spotted?" He was ready to go get Sakura at any second.

"I can't tell you that as of yet, Naruto. It's only a lead." The calmness in her made Naruto wonder. "If I don't here from Neji in a week, then I can only assume the worse that he was caught." Naruto shook his head at that. That was awful to think of. Neji was great in scouting missions.

"Hinata's ceremony is being put off until Neji gets back," Naruto explained. He had hope that Sakura would be returned to them some day. Tsunade turned back to the window. "I told Sasuke." Tsunade tensed.

"You did what?" the Hokage snapped at her possible future successor.

"I had to. He needed to hear where she was. He wouldn't believe me when I told him she was on a mission," he replied. He jumped when the Hokage's desk split in half. She must need a new one every month.

"Naruto, you're an idiot." Tsunade glared at him.

"I didn't tell him that it was Itachi who took her!" The blonde Hokage relaxed a little. At least Sasuke wouldn't be that set off by it as he would be if he knew it was his own brother. "I just want her back." Naruto was looking at the ground with his clenched fists by his side. He hadn't been allowed to leave the village. Only his wife had gone the missions. He had been cooped up here, waiting for some news. He took the time to train as much as he could.

"I do too, Naruto. I do too."

* * *

_Tsunade, _

_I haven't found anything here in Waterfall. I hope Cat has had a better chance of finding her than I have. Life in Waterfall was completely normal. Should I return to Cat or explore the Land of Earth? _

_-Wolf_

_

* * *

_

She jumped up when she heard the loud door at the end of the stairs slam open. Did Neji succeed in thwarting off the Akatsuki? Had he come to finally save her? She stuck her head outside into the hallway, only to watch Itachi and Kisame walking down the hallway, holding a man by the arms, dragging him on the stone floor. The man looked up at her with his lavender eyes. She clasped a hand to her mouth.

"Neji!" she screamed. She watched them pass by her room. She was about to go jump on Kisame's back and beat him in the head when a hand was placed on her shoulder. Her eyes looked at the one whose hand touched her. It was a man with multiple piercing. She returned her gaze to Neji. Itachi opened a metal door. She knew it was a room with no bed or bathroom since she had explored the dungeons frequently, memorizing each room. She heard the clinking of metal. She heard a man grunt. She walked down the hallway with the orange haired man following her. She noticed a trail of blood leading to Neji's prison. She looked inside.

A tear slid down her face at the sight she saw. Neji's arms were chained to the ceiling above so head could hang. His feet were barely touching the ground.

"Let him go!" She tried to run at Neji's limp body. She could see the gaping hole in his belly.

"Sakura," the man with piercings warned. He grabbed her elbow. She tried to snatch it away from him.

"No! I've got to heal him!" she retorted back. She felt the seal on her chakra break. Was Itachi allowing her to heal Neji?

"Sakura." The tone made her shiver. "You need to heal Konan." She froze up. This was why she was kidnapped, to heal the Akatsuki.

"I will not!" The orange haired man backhanded her face. She clasped onto her cheek, feeling the crack in her cheekbone. She could fight. She had her chakra back, but she was in no condition to fight three Akatsuki. She noticed Kisame was grinning. Itachi suppressed the growl in his throat. "He needs my help!" Sakura pointed at her Konoha teammate who was hanging by his wrists.

"You will heal her, or I will kill him," he ordered. She knew he wouldn't hesitate if Sakura said no again. Itachi wrapped an arm around her stomach, dragging her back into the hallway.

"No! Neji!" she called. She saw the Hyuugan look up at her. She conjured chakra up into her fist. She raised her hand up and tried to punch Itachi's chin. He already caught her wrist.

"Don't even try anything, Sakura," the leader ordered. She dropped her hand. She wouldn't want Neji to get hurt even more. "Heal Konan." He flicked his hand, and Itachi began to drag her to the stairs.

She stared at Konan's body. The female Akatsuki was unconscious. Konan had a few scrapes and bruises, a gash in her left arm, and a hole in her chest. Would she be able to heal the woman? Her hands glowed with her green chakra. The faster she gets this done, the faster she can return to Neji. She took a needle and dissolvable thread. She began sealing up the hole, stitching it. She wouldn't have to remove the stitches later as they would dissolve over time. Itachi watched her work. Her green chakra began to close up the hole completely. She would probably have a minor scar that Sakura could easily remove in the future. She then moved onto the gash in the arm. It was easier than the hole. She sealed it up with some stitches but finished the rest with her healing chakra. She would let the scrapes and bruises heal naturally as she would not have much chakra left if she went through every minor detail.

Neji, that was all who she cared about. He was her only ally here.

"I'm done. Now can I return to Neji?" Sakura asked the two men who were now standing over her work. Kisame was nowhere around, probably guarding the cell Neji was in. Leader had been here since she started healing the hole in Konan's chest, but she had been too busy in healing than to notice her surroundings. Leader nodded to the Uchiha who was her guardian. She placed a hand on the lower part of her stomach. She was using green chakra to check no strain had come to her baby. She followed Itachi back to Neji's room.

"Sakura, careful." Sakura ignored Itachi's warnings. She looked at Neji's body hanging from the ceiling.

"Damn it, Itachi. Can you please chain him to the wall instead of the ceiling?" With her chakra back, she tore the handcuffs of Neji's chain open. She caught him before he fell. She laid him on the ground, analyzing his wounds. Itachi placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You shouldn't do that."

"Fuck off, Uchiha." This was the first time she had fought off her rapist. Now she had her full strength back. Itachi grabbed her and quickly pinned to her the wall. This forced her back into her shock. She looked into Itachi's blaring Sharingan. She whimpered, now turning back into her weak self. "Please, Itachi. He's going to die if I don't heal him," she pleaded.

"Don't do anything stupid." She felt a kunai press into her lower abdomen. It wasn't piercing her, but it was clearly a warning to her.

"Itachi! Don't!" she cried out. She now had fear for her child. She heard Neji's labored breathing. Itachi released her, and she fell to her hands and knees. She returned back to Neji's side.

Sakura's green glowing hands were over Neji's stomach. It was his major wound, along with a hole in his leg.

Neji was losing consciousness. "Sakura," he whispered to her. He had finally found her. Here she was healing him. He lifted up his hand to catch a strand of her hair, but it quickly dropped. He saw the man watching what Sakura was doing. Why was he here? Neji saw Sakura's tear stained face. He felt soothing warmth in his stomach. He had been stupid and had been pierced in the stomach with one of Konan's paper weapons. He had been worrying too much about this pink haired beauty.

"Don't go to sleep, Neji." But he did. "Neji!" She worked even faster on his wounds. She couldn't lose him, her only hope of getting away from here, her only hope for a future for her child. "Baka!" The blood had become a pool. So much blood loss. How could he possibly survive?

* * *

Yes, Itachi was a bit mad when the leader had slapped her if you didn't catch that. And poor Neji D: Is he going to live? And what's going to happen to Sakura's child?

Muhahaha! Cliffhangers : D

Read and review and I'll update soon : ) (9 reviews last chapter in one day! O.O That makes me so happy!)


	5. Pain

Update update! UPDATE! : D I've been really good with updating. : D

Is Neji alive? I don't know.

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing, but I own the plot. I also kidnapped Itachi. Sadly, he got away.

* * *

Chapter 5

* * *

"_Neji," she said, stopping him. Somehow they had ended p in her bedroom, kissing each other furiously. His shirt was unbuttoned, flashing off his well toned chest. His fingers were fumbling with the zipper on her bride's maid dress. He looked into her jade yes, waiting for a response._

"_I want this, Sakura," he whispered into her ear, nibbling on it. She suppressed a moan._

"_We can't," she told him. She pressed her hands into his shoulder, pushing him off. Both of their hearts belonged to other people. His heart belonged to TenTen, and hers belonged to Sasuke. She remembered the last two hours. Sasuke was taken back to the jails after being allowed out for several hours to enjoy his best friend's wedding and also to be the Best Man at the wedding. Sakura had only been a bride's maid. Hinata's sister was the maid of honor._

_With Sasuke back in the jails, she was left alone with the few dancing guests and drunk people. She heard the arguing next to her. TenTen had her hair down for the special occasion. Naruto and Hinata didn't have to witness the arguments. They already had gone off on their two week honeymoon. Tsunade had granted their vacation with tears of happiness. She hoped that the bride would whip the blond fox into shape. She hoped he would come back more mature after having his sacred wedding night with Hinata._

_TenTen and Neji were arguing about nothing at all. Both were drunk and out of their mind. Sakura was a bit tipsy after having a few shots of sake. TenTen left in a hurry, screaming that she hates Neji. A simple lie, but a lie that got Neji and Sakura talking. Somehow he ended up kissing her. Somehow they ended up laughing while stumbling back to her apartment. Somehow they started kissing as soon as the apartment door shut behind them. Somehow they ended up on her bed, trying to undress each other. But Sakura stopped it. This wasn't how she wanted to spend her first time, not with him and not piss drunk._

"_We can't," Neji said, repeating her words. He lied beside her and wrapped his arms around her. They both stared up the ceiling, drifting away into sleep. Simple and peaceful sleep._

_

* * *

_

She hugged her blankets to her, blinking her eyes at her surroundings. She was back in her dungeon room, but she hadn't walked into here. She had been with Neji, waiting for him to wake up. She must have fallen asleep, and Itachi must have carried her in here. She sat up and stared at where her door would have been if she hadn't broken it off. She checked her hands feeling her chakra course through them. She molded the chakra into her hand and placed it on her lower abdomen.

The baby was fine, even though Sakura had suffered chakra exhaustion. She sighed in relief. Then she gasped. She had her chakra. She could try to escape.

But Neji…

She couldn't leave him here, and he still needed more medical assistance. Sakura ruffled her pink hair. No doubt she would have to check up on Konan. Sakura was in the hallway already, walking to where Neji would be. Itachi was standing guard in front of the door. She froze a bit, unconsciously putting a hand on her stomach. He had threatened her and her baby yesterday. She straightened up a bit and approached him.

"Itachi-san, may I please see Neji?" He look at her and thought it over a moment. "Please, Itachi-san." San, she called him san. She should be quivering in fear. Itachi respected the newfound confidence. He unlocked the dungeon cell to reveal the Hyuuga sitting up and leaning against a wall. His lavender eyes met her jade eyes. She clasped a hand to her mouth, but then felt aching pain in her cheek. She had forgotten Leader had slapped her. Neji's lip was busted, and blood trickled down from his nose.

"Sakura," Neji whispered to her. She entered the cell.

"Itachi, what did you do?" Sakura asked the Uchiha. The said man stared back at her and shook his head.

"I did nothing," he responded with utmost coldness. She kneeled by Neji's side.

"Neji, I'm so sorry," she cried. She touched his cheek with her green hand. She couldn't stop her tears. Finally, she saw someone she's known for a long time, someone she's known since she was twelve. He touched her cheek and brushed a tear off.

"You're alive. You're okay." He gave a small smile, obviously wincing in pain. She moved onto his stomach and made sure the wound hadn't opened up.

"Baka, you could've gotten killed!" she scolded. She rested her head on his chest. "Neji." He pet her head and ran the silk pink hair through his fingers. He wrapped an arm around her.

"I had to find you. Naruto would've gone crazy if no one had been looking for you, and I couldn't put my cousin through that kind of stress." Of course he had to make up an excuse. She continued to rest in his arms. Itachi cleared his throat.

Neji automatically turned his Byuukagan on. He was glaring at the Sharingan user. He looked over Sakura's body, checking for any injuries. He paused at her stomach.

"Sakura, you're pregnant." Sakura froze and felt Itachi's gaze on her now when he heard Neji's words. She closed her eyes and forced away the memories of why she was with child. She nodded at Neji, confirming his suspicion. He could see the foreign chakra inside her. He noticed the way Itachi was looking at her. "You bastard." He tried to stand up, but Sakura pushed him down.

"Don't be stupid. You're injured," she reminded. Why did she protect Itachi right then? Neji had a murderous aura to him.

"But, Sakura."

"Don't be stupid." She sighed and nuzzled her head on his chest. He relaxed, not taking his eyes off of the Uchiha. She heard a door open and close at the end of the hallway.

"Itachi, bring Sakura. She needs to check up on Konan." Sakura tensed up at the voice. It was the leader's voice. "Now, Itachi." Itachi stood over the hugging pair. He grabbed Sakura's arm.

"Sakura, come on." She didn't resist. It was for Neji's sake.

"I'll be right back, Neji." She gave him a weak smile.

"Sakura, don't go," Neji pleaded. Sakura waved to him as Itachi pulled her out of the room. He quickly locked the door, so the Konoha ninja couldn't get out. Her big brother was safe for now.

He felt roaring anger in him. Sakura had been raped, and now she was pregnant. He tried to stand up but was too weak to. He stared at the now closed door.

"Konan is fine. Her wounds are healing just fine," Sakura explained to the leader. She finished checking over the female Akatsuki. The leader stopped her before she left the room.

"Itachi, what should we do with him?" the leader asked the Uchiha. He could see Sakura's shoulders stiffen at the question. Itachi did not want to answer the orange haired man for fear what Sakura's reaction would be.

"Keep him here and question him, then dispose of him." Sakura swiftly looked at him.

"No!" she screamed. "You will let him go free!" She could hear the leader chuckling.

"Sakura, we kidnapped you. If we let the man go, then he'll notify Konoha right away. We're not a good group of people," the pierced man explained. Sakura glared at him.

"Why the hell are you keeping me here?" Sakura snapped. She was preparing chakra in her fist. The leader smirked. She was angered, not thinking of her actions at all. She made into a run at him. He disappeared and twisted her arm behind her back. He held a kunai to her stomach, right above where the baby would be. She could feel him pressing the kunai into her belly. She gasped at the sharp pain.

"You will join us, Sakura," he whispered into her neck. She felt the blood trickle down her stomach. A tear rolled down her broken cheek.

"Don't!" She had full fear thrust back into her. He knew where the baby was. He could move the kunai lower and kill it if he wanted to. The kunai was deeper into her belly. She whimpered. "Please stop!"

"Leader-san, you will kill her if you go any further," Itachi said, a crack in his voice when he heard Sakura yelp in pain. The leader released her, and she stumbled forward, grasping onto the wound in her stomach. She fell to her knees, taking deep breaths. It hurt so much.

"Take her back to her room," was the leader's command. Itachi followed, picking her up bridal style. She was trying to conjure up the chakra in her hands to heal herself. She moaned in pain as they walked down the stairs. Itachi shut the door behind them.

"I'm sorry, Sakura. I'm sorry." Another one of his apologies. If he was so sorry, then he would let her and Neji go, let her baby be safe. He placed her onto the bed. Her chakra was failing to mold right. She had already used so much chakra on Neji and Konan, not enough for herself. She cried out in pain.

"Sakura!" Neji yelled, kicking on his door. He could her screams of torture. "Sakura!"

Itachi studied Sakura's hands. There was no way she would be able to heal herself. The blood kept dripping out of her. The baby was unharmed, but her own life was on the line. "What do I have to do?" Itachi asked her. There was no way he would get her to that medic in town on time. She would become suspicious of why his "wife" was coming in with a gaping wound in her stomach. He could hear his gasps for breath. He brushed the hair out of her face unconsciously.

"Neji. He would know something about healing," she explained. She cried out in pain again. The kunai had gone so deep in her stomach. ANBU had at least a little bit of training in healing jutsu just in case a medic nin wasn't on hand.

"I can't let him out, Sakura." She cringed at his sentence. Why did Itachi look so worried? She looked at his face. It was twisted with worry and fear.

"Please, Itachi, it's the only way. ANBU captains these days learn simple healing techniques." She squeezed a little bit of chakra into her hands. She soothed the pain, trying to stop the blood flow, but it only lasted for a minute. Her chakra then failed. "Itachi!" she screamed. He couldn't stand her whimpers of pain anymore. He was already down the hallway in front of Neji's door.

"I'm only letting you out so that you can help, Sakura. Do anything else, and she will die," Itachi warned to the Hyuuga standing behind the door. This was true. If she didn't get help soon, she could die of the blood loss. For some reason, Itachi didn't want to lose her. It took Neji a moment to answer.

"Alright." Itachi unlocked the door, and Neji was already running down the hallway. Itachi quickly followed him, finding him kneeling by Sakura's side. "What the hell did you do to her?" Neji yelled at him, looking back at the Uchiha.

"I did nothing. Now heal her." Neji formed chakra in his hand, making sure it was the right balance. Sakura placed her hand on top of Neji's, guiding him in the healing. She felt dizzy and lightheaded, but she couldn't give up. It seemed like hours had gone by. Sakura was guiding chakra through her body to the wound area. She was also focusing chakra on the child within her, making sure it was still safe and sound. She tried her best not to slip into unconsciousness.

Finally, Neji had stopped the bleeding, but there was still a lot of blood gone.

"Itachi, I need a wash cloth for her forehead," he directed. He knew that Itachi would obey. Sakura's life was at stake. He was back in less than a second with a soaked wash cloth. He placed it on her forehead. It would keep away a fever for now. Neji was pouring more chakra into the wound. "Baka! Stay awake!" He could see her eyes starting to close. "Sakura!" Her eyes flickered open after almost falling into a deep slumber. He had never had to work on such a deep wound. He only knew more about small wounds. Sakura was helping him by putting her own chakra into the process. Itachi watched with his Sharingan eyes. He knew he had to help.

Itachi placed a hand on top of Sakura's hand that was guiding Neji. He began to throw his own chakra into the mix. He hoped that it would help out the two as their own chakra was dwindling every second. "Thank you," Neji muttered. That was the only thanks Itachi would ever get out of the stubborn Hyuugan. Uchiha felt like murdering his leader at the moment. He was playing with Sakura's life and his unborn child's life.

He pressed more and more chakra, making sure it wasn't too much. He saw Sakura's determination, yet she loss too much blood. She could barely hold on. She was hanging on by a thread. "Sakura, I'm sorry," he whispered. Neji didn't pay attention to what Itachi had said. The wound was finally beginning to close up. Sakura had heard Itachi's whispering plea for forgiveness. Her eyes drifted over to him. Then she slipped into darkness.

"Sakura! Stay awake!" Neji yelled. Sakura didn't wake.

* * *

"Tsunade, did you receive anymore from notice from Cat-san?" the young woman asked. The Hokage shook her head.

"No, Shizune," she replied. He hadn't written them for a month. She had already told Kakashi to head to the Land of Earth and explore there, but now that she wasn't receiving a letter from the Cat, she was getting desperately worried. She was pondering on whether she should send out another team. It would take them a week to get the Grass Country, and they had to worry about whether the Hidden Grass Village would think they were trespassers.

"Should we be worried?" the apprentice asked her senpai.

"No. We'll wait two more weeks, and if we don't hear anything by then, we'll send out a squad." She turned towards the window, staring at the sunset.

* * *

Sakura's name was on the tip of his tongue. He hadn't gone to visit the teme for a month. He was afraid what he would ask. He stared at the woman sleeping beside him. He wrapped her arms around her, not wanting to let go as he felt the tear choke up in his throat. She slowly crawled out of her sleep and turned towards her husband. "It'll be alright, Naruto." He buried his head in her chest. His sobs were muffled.

* * *

He stared at the night sky. It was probably the middle of the night now. He hadn't gotten much sleep since the last time Naruto had been here. No one had come to visit him in the entire time. He missed Sakura's touch. He missed the warmth of her hand. "Bring her back to me, please." He wrapped his arms around his knees and closed his eyes, seeing flashes of her image go through his mind.

* * *

She felt the arm around her waist. She could feel the warm breath on her neck. She was scared to move, but she had woken up every day for the last month to this arm. It was protective of her. The pain she once endured a month ago was now gone with daily healing sessions by her own hands. She shifted and turned around to look at the sleeping figure. Somehow he was here in her bed. Somehow this had been allowed. She touched his cheek gently with her fingers. She was careful not to wake him.

Sakura promised that she would get him out of here soon. Konan and Leader had left a week ago, probably to go off to another base. She was left here alone with him and with the other two Akatsuki here. Itachi took no precautions and sealed both of their chakras. She and Neji were basically normal citizens now without access to their chakra. She escaped Neji's grasp as quietly as she could, going into the bathroom to take her shower.

After she undressed, she looked down to her stomach. There was a small bump below it. She was three months pregnant now. She wondered if she would be going to her checkup. Itachi probably wouldn't want to risk another meeting like they had with Neji. Now Neji was their prisoner. They had already questioned him about what he was doing here. She knew they probably wondering when they would get rid of him. They didn't need him. He was just a disturbance. They would want to kill him, so their location would never be revealed. She worried for the white eyed man. He had saved her life last month. She had much gratitude for him, but she knew Itachi helped as well.

"I think I figured out a way, Sakura," Neji said when she came out of the bathroom with a towel over her damp hair and new fresh clothes.

"What?" She eyed him wearily. She could see the aura of brilliance around him. "I can't escape, Neji, not with just you." He probably knew this was true. Her chakra was greatly limited now that she was with child, and Itachi and Kisame would be quick to chase after them. Neji would have a greater chance of escape if he went by himself.

"I think I know how to release our chakra seal." Her eyes widened. She sat next to him on the bed, waiting for his solution. She had been on this bed a month ago, bleeding to death. Now she was living and healthy. Her unborn child was still safe. "If I meditate and focus my chakra long enough, I think I can break the chakra seal."

"But that means you'd be going alone," she responded, staring into his white eyes. He sadly nodded. There was no way she'd break her chakra seal with the way the baby keeps messing up her chakra.

"I know where you are, so I'll be able to have a Konoha team here in days," he said, trying to soothe her worries. She gave a weak smile and turned towards the hall way.

"But Itachi checks on us constantly," Sakura said. She whiffed the steamed rice and salmon on the table in the corner of her room. There was a plate for Neji as well. She practically floated over to the table, immediately grabbing the chopsticks and picking up a clump of rice.

"I know he does, but there's got to be a time when he's distracted. They must go on missions sometime. They are the Akatsuki after all." He watched her dig into the food. He casually grabbed his own plate and ate on the bed. His ears perked up at the soft footsteps coming down the hallway.

"Sakura, your appointment is today," Itachi reminded. He eyed the Hyuuga on the bed. She turned to look at Neji. He had to do it today. They didn't know when they would have another chance.

"Alright, Itachi-san." She finished up her bowl quickly. "I'll be back soon, Neji." She would have to buy him some time. Any time at all would be much appreciated. She took the cloak and hat that were in Itachi's hand, placing them on herself.

Neji had asked her why she kept the baby. She honestly did not know. He didn't delve into the topic of that terrible first night of being here with Itachi. He knew it would bring up bad memories and cause her to start shaking. The topic was taboo, and she tried to keep herself calm as she could be when Itachi was around.

Sakura wondered to herself if Neji would be here when she got back. She hoped he would, but then again, she wanted to him to be free.

* * *

Sorry it's so short. I've got to study for my final. And I just found I got a D in trig, and this is college. Makes me very sad. : (

So will Neji free himself? Or will he end up dead?

And evil leader doing that to Sakura!

Read and review! : D Getting reviews make me happy and makes me want to update more. : )


	6. Escape

Update time. Not many reviews last chapter. D: Was it not to your liking?

Well anyways, college is over for a few weeks, and I got really bad grades this semester. Not fun at all.

**Disclaimer: **Itachi is unfortunately not mine, and neither is the manga. But I own the plot!

* * *

Chapter 6: Escape

* * *

"Itachi, can we get some lunch?" the pink haired girl asked, just finishing her doctor's appointment. Everything was healthy even though she suffered a lot of blood loss a month ago. She rested her hand on her hip, waiting for Itachi's answer. Obviously he wanted to get back to the base as quick as he could. He was hesitant to answer. She searched his eyes as best as she could now that the bamboo hat was on his head. He took the one in her hand and placed it on her head.

"Fine, Sakura, but do anything and you will regret it," he coldly replied. He removed his hand from the top of her bamboo hat, grabbing her wrist. He was gentle when he tugged on it. She smiled a little when Itachi's back was turned to her. He led her to the ramen shop they had been to the first time. There were less people here. Only a couple normal citizens and one ninja.

"Two miso soup ramen please," Itachi called to the cook, sitting Sakura in a booth and trapping her in. His eyes gazed over her figure. She was looking at the window by their booth. She could see the people walking in the street, so oblivious to who could be inside all the shops, oblivious to the criminals who could be lurking in their town.

"Itachi-san," Sakura muttered. Itachi glanced at her when he heard his name being called. She smiled. "Nothing." She was being strange. She had no idea why she said his name. It was just an impulse. The one ninja here was a grass nin, probably a jounin. She knew that asking for any help would be impossible since Itachi was watching her every move. There wasn't any way she could escape yet.

"Two miso soup ramen," the cook announced, placing the two bowls in front of them, laying two sets of chopsticks down for them. He nodded his head as he went back to work on cooking. Sakura was quick to eat, loving the taste of it. She missed the taste of Ichiraku's ramen. She missed eating ramen for lunch with her closest friends. She missed Naruto and his wife. She kept the tears from welling up in her eyes, choking down on it. The ramen brought back memories, sweet and joyful memories. She could remember all the laughter and smiles she would have while eating lunch with her brother.

Itachi placed his chopsticks on his bowl when he finished. He could see the weak grin on Sakura's face. He said nothing of it. "Ready, Sakura?" She jumped up at his voice, distracted from her thoughts. She looked down at her own bowl. She hadn't realized that she had so hungrily gobbled it down already. More time, she needed more time. What could she do?

Neji… He was going to escape, right? But he would need time to meditate and time to knock out the blue shark who she knew was probably still there. Time was what he needed. Time could be her salvation. She grasped onto Itachi's wrist. "Itachi." He was staring at her, halfway getting out of the booth. What she was going to say? Something! He was growing curious as to what could possibly be going on in her mind. "Could we explore the town a little?"

"No." He removed her hand from his wrist and stood up. She panicked a little at his abrupt answer.

"Please, Itachi-san?" Begging could work maybe. Itachi formed a small scowl which quickly disappeared to hide all emotions that he could possibly have.

"No, Sakura-san." He waited for her to get out of the booth.

"Please." Sakura wouldn't budge.

"Sakura, don't ask me again," he scolded her. She flinched.

"Please, Itachi-san." Her persistence was angering him. She was a prisoner, and she thought he would give her even the slightest chance of a freedom? Exploring the town was out of the question. He grabbed her wrist roughly and pulled out of the booth. She yelped. "Ow! Let go of me!" The few citizens and one ninja had all their attention turned to them. Itachi glared at the few, making them shake in fear. He pulled her over to the ramen bar, putting a chunk of change on the counter. She struggled to get her hand free.

Neji needed her to give him some time. Neji needed her.

The cook was slow in counting the change. His old age made him confused. Itachi patience was wearing thin. What was she going to do? She yanked her hand out of his wrist, stepping back a little. Itachi's attention quickly turned to her. "Sakura," he warned. His threatening tone stopped her.

Time.

She took another step back. "Sakura." The cook finally counted the money and slowly walked to the cashier, counting the money Itachi would need back. She took another step. "Sakura." Another step. Itachi moved one step towards her. She moved another step, scared a little by the shadow looming over her. "Sakura." That was the final time he would call her name. If she stepped back again, he would grab her forcefully. The cook closed the cashier, content with the amount of change he had. Her breath was heavy a little, contemplating on what she should do next.

Another step. He was about to pin her down. He was already moving. The cashier coughed. "Sir, your change?" Sakura thanked the cashier for stopping the Uchiha. The Akatsuki gave a small, silent growl that almost no one could hear. Itachi used ninja speed and grabbed the money in lightning speed while grabbing Sakura by the waist, dragging her out to the blaring sunlight.

Time.

Time.

No.

Sakura pressed a hand on Itachi's chest, pushing him away. "Don't touch me!" she screamed, causing the many townsmen to slow down and stop to see what the commotion was. Her breathing was labored. She tried to fight the tears. The memories of that night were still haunting her. The rape was still looming in her mind. He touched her shoulder. "No!"

"Hey, let the girl go!" a man in the crowd exclaimed. Itachi was quick to glare at him. It was just normal guy who would probably die within seconds of trying to start a fight with the great Uchiha murderer.

"Sakura, I'm sorry." Another apology. The apologies would never stop. He was truthfully sorry what he had done to her over the last three months. He pulled her into a hug. She froze up. He hugged her? But why? Of course. It was only to make the audience feel it was just a lover's quarrel. He kissed the top of her head. The crowd was quick to disperse, seeing nothing was really going on here. Sakura didn't move, afraid what he would do if she did. The warmth of the hug comforted her a little.

"Itachi-san, please. Let me go," she whispered, choking on the sobs she wanted to desperately to let out. She was referring to releasing her, releasing her forever, releasing her from prison.

"I can't, Sakura," he whispered into her ear. He didn't know why he did what he did next. It may have been possibly to calm her down. It may have been possibly to make her feel a bit safer.

He pressed his lips gently onto hers.

Sakura was shocked. Why was he doing this? Why was he kissing her?

It was so sweet, yet passionate. Her first real kiss with him. A kiss?

What?

He released her, and she stumbled a little, her mind foggy. Why did he do what he did? Was it so that she would become confused and silent? She touched her lips unconsciously.

Itachi didn't even give her a chance to protest when he suddenly picked her up bridal style. He made some hand signs, and they were already teleporting. No! Neji. They were outside the front door to the base within a matter of seconds. He allowed her to stand on the ground, but he didn't let go of her waist. He surveyed the area, noticing the front door was wide open. He felt the change in Sakura's posture when she looked around herself.

The front door to base was never left open. Never.

He settled onto holding her wrist, starting to drag him with her into the base. He pulled a kunai out. Sakura gasped when Itachi started to survey the place before entering. His Mangekyou Sharingan was on. It was watching for any of sign of the enemy, looking for any sudden movement. He felt no presences in the base except for one. That one presence was easily identified to be his partner. Only one presence meant that their Konoha prisoner had either escaped, or Kisame had disposed of Hyuuga Neji like he had been ordered do. That was one of the reasons why Itachi took Sakura to her appointment, so Kisame could take care of the job Leader had assigned to him. He didn't want Sakura to go ballistic when Kisame would come for Neji.

His hold on her wrist tightened, walking into the front room. The door to the stairs to the dungeons was wide open. Busted open he should say seeing that the top half was off the hinge. Sakura's eyes filled with wonder at the broken door. Itachi walked slowly to the end of the hallway, watching out for anyone who may be hiding themselves. He felt nothing but his partner. He looked into his partner's open room. He was on the ground knocked out. He felt no danger in the area. He brought Sakura into the room. It was a plain room. The Akatsuki only decorated their rooms at the main base in Rain. Other bases were considered disposable. The base in Grass was unimportant, only a checkpoint to other bases.

"Sakura, check him," Itachi ordered to the girl, making a sign with his hands. He broke the chakra seal on her. She felt the power. Her chakra was free for her to access. Never in her life would she doubt that it wouldn't be possible to ever use her chakra again. She kneeled by Kisame's side, her hand glowing with green chakra. She felt through his chakra, checking for any wounds and disturbances in his energy. All his chakra gates were closed. There were several welts on his body, all where a chakra point would be. Other than that, he was fine.

"His chakra points have been closed off," Sakura said to Itachi. He agreed, looking over Kisame's body with the Sharingan. He could feel the disturbance in Kisame's chakra.

"Can you open them back up?" He watched the door for a second and turned his gaze back to Sakura. She nodded, molding healing chakra into her hands. She started at Kisame's feet and hovered her hand up his legs. She moved onto his arms, starting at his hands. She hovered over his stomach, then over his head. Then she put her hands over the final most important chakra point. His heart. She pressed enough chakra to let the flow begin. The chakra point in the heart is the main gateway. It allows chakra to flow everywhere. She opened it. Kisame's eyes fluttered open and watched her. His eyes were probably blurry. He grabbed her hands roughly and pinned her on the ground, straddling her.

"Get off me!" Sakura screamed, causing Itachi to panic. Itachi was quick to pull Kisame off.

"Kisame," he called. The shark man struggled. His eyes started to focus on his surroundings.

"Itachi, the brat escaped," Kisame replied. He glared at the pink haired girl who sat up.

"I thought so," Itachi murmured. He settled on looking at Sakura whose eyes were widened. Neji did it. He got away. She tried her best not to smile, feeling the corners of her mouth lift up a bit. Itachi caught this. She had tricked him and stole him away from the base for as long as she could. He grabbed her by the back of the collar, her feet hovering above the ground. "You're a fool." She gasped.

"What are we going to do now, Itachi?" Kisame asked, wanting to punch the little kounichi. Itachi dragged the kounichi to a door in the hallway, opening it to reveal a closet. What was he going to do? Throw her in there? He grabbed a backpack, and she instantly recognized it. It was hers. He allowed her to stand on the ground, putting it in her hands. Was he letting her go? "Itachi?" Kisame called.

"We're going to have to move." Sakura closed her eyes. She wasn't being let go. They were going to transport her somewhere else. With Neji gone, they would have to move. Neji knew their location and would notify Konoha. It was his mission after all. He had told her about what the Hokage had ordered him to do. Itachi and Kisame were taking the necessary precautions. Konoha would come after them, but when they get to the base, the Akatsuki and Sakura would be gone.

She looked through the pockets of her backpack. Her medical supplies were all there, but her weapons were gone. She went into a certain pocket, pulling out her hitai-ete. She fingered the symbol engraved into the metal. Konoha was her home, and they were going to save her someday, at least she believed that. "Sakura." She turned to look at him, slipping the hitai-ete back in the bag. He was angry with her.

"I'm not sorry," she hissed. She didn't care what Itachi would do to her. He'd already done enough. Itachi turned to Kisame.

"Let's go." Kisame nodded. Itachi picked up Sakura by her waist.

"Put me down!" she screamed. She punched Itachi in the shoulder with chakra. He hadn't expected that. He had forgotten the chakra seal was gone. His shoulder throbbed with pain. He grabbed her neck and threw her to the wall. She groaned with pain, sliding to the floor. She pushed herself off the floor, only to get a kick in the stomach from Kisame. She yelped, putting her hands on her stomach to soothe the pain. "Screw you."

"Little girly, say anymore and I'll make it hurt even more," Kisame growled. Itachi's eyes were on Sakura. She coughed a bit from the pressure she felt in her stomach. Her eyes widened, placing them on her low abdomen now. She put healing chakra into them, sighing in relief. "Itachi, can I kill it?" She froze at the question. Not her child.

"No." Itachi said no? Itachi was surprised that he said it. He shouldn't have any desire to protect her or her baby, yet he did. He looked into her jade eyes when she looked up at him. He held a hand out for her. She took it, allowing him to help her up. Kisame growled.

"Thank you, Itachi-san," she mumbled, looking at the ground as if it was interesting. She was thanking him for saving her and for helping her up. She was wondering why he saved her child, their child. She had forgotten this. It was his child too, his child he had created out of taking away her innocence. It was their child. He or she would inherit both of their attributes. Sakura pondered on this. Itachi noticed her staring at him. He wondered what she was thinking. Kisame cleared his throat, causing the two to lose any train of thought.

"We have to go. We don't know when the brat's gonna call for Konoha," Kisame reminded. Sakura put her old backpack on. She had chakra. Couldn't she try to escape? Itachi placed a hand on her shoulder, obviously reading her mind. He squeezed her shoulder a little. Not a chance.

"Set the bombs," Itachi ordered to the blue shark man. He grunted in return, moving around hallway. Itachi dragged her out of the front door. She looked around, seeing the trees that surrounded the building. She had never explored the outside before. She never had the chance to since Itachi would always whisk her away from the clearing. The trees easily hid the base from any people who passed by. It was in the middle of nowhere. It was most likely close to the town Itachi always took her to. She wouldn't see that town again. They would be getting as far away from here as they can. She wouldn't have appointments with the same medic. She was hoping Konoha would find her.

Kisame walked up behind them. She should fight now and try to escape, but she knew there was no chance. "Sakura, get on my back." She nodded, hopping onto Itachi's open back. They were off in a split second. There was a loud explosion once they got a mile away. Any hint of her being there was gone. She didn't dare look back, keeping her arms around Itachi as he kept jumping from tree to tree. She watched the town pass them by. She had no idea where they were taking her, but the farther they got, the more likely she would never be found. She felt a way of nausea flash over her. The thought of losing any chance of escape was getting to her. She tightened her hold on Itachi more. At least fifty miles have passed by now.

"Itachi," she muttered, groaning at the urge to throw up. He shifted his head to look at her through the corner of his eyes. He could see her green in the face.

"Kisame, let's stop for a minute." They stopped next to clearing. Itachi eased her down off his back and allowed her to stand. She quickly turned and ran into a bush, upchucking the ramen she ate hours ago. She took a breath, feeling woozy. She focused her chakra on her stomach, calming down the nausea in her abdomen. She came out of the bush, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. She clasped the cloak around her some more. She was getting cold.

Itachi had to let the Leader know what happened. Kisame gave him a look that said Leader would be furious. The bombs they set off were made by another Akatsuki named Deidara. They were only to be used in desperate matters. Sakura sat down on the ground, relaxing a bit. Itachi walked off into a number of trees. "Where-." She was stopped by Kisame who kept her from standing up. He held her down by her shoulder. Itachi focused some chakra into the ring on his hand and made a sign. His figure appeared on the two hands in the base in Rain. He could see Leader was on his designated finger. Itachi was on his own finger.

"We had to relocate and destroy the base in Grass. The Konoha prisoner Hyuuga Neji escaped. We have taken Haruno Sakura with us and are planning to head to the Wind country base," Itachi explained to Leader who was now waiting for an answer as to why he was here. Leader inwardly growled.

"I thought I ordered Kisame to exterminate him," the pierced man replied. He was furious with Kisame.

"We did not want to make the kounichi hate us. We had planned to exterminate him today while I took Sakura away." Itachi had thought this plan over and over and had never thought it would've failed the way it did. "Permission to relocate to Wind Country base?" Itachi asked.

"Permission granted. Konoha will most likely try to track you. Kill all members who come after you." Itachi nodded.

"Hai, leader-sama." His figure disappeared from the large room, feeling a bit uneasy about Leader. He felt Leader was becoming frustrated with the trouble the kounichi had been causing them, enough trouble to possibly not want her to be in the Organization, enough to end her life. He regained his emotionless composure, taking in the new orders.

He returned to Sakura and Kisame. Kisame was keeping guard of the girl, keeping her from going anywhere. Sakura was looking at the Uchiha curiously, wondering what he had gone off for. To go to the bathroom maybe? She thought not. Itachi stood in front of her, his back turned to her. He held his hands behind his back, asking her to get on his back again. She complied, knowing it would be futile to refuse. She wrapped her arm around Itachi's chest, holding on tight as they started to move again. She could hear his heartbeat when she pressed her ear on his back. It was soft and even. She listened to it for the next hour, soothed by the thumps. Somehow she fell asleep.

* * *

_Hokage,_

_I was captured a month ago by Akatsuki. I am now on the move back to Konoha. Sakura was there with Akatsuki in Grass. The base was by a town called Sora. I have a feeling they will most likely move Sakura to another location. I put a tracker jutsu on the one called Kisame. The tracker should be easily detected by any Konoha shinobi. I escaped, but I had to leave Sakura behind. Her health condition did not allow me to transport her. I will notify when I get to Konoha of what this condition is in fear this letter does not get to you. I advise you send a team out right away._

_-Neji_

_

* * *

_

"Hawk, Frog, Fox-kun, Fox-chan, Beetle, Shikamaru, Ino, Kiba, I have a mission for the seven of you." This team was designed specifically for the mission. Fox-kun was happy to finally be on a mission after three months. Fox-chan was happy to go with the kun.

"Baa-chan, what mission is it?" Fox-kun asked, but he already knew what it was. He knew there would only be one reason that the Hokage would finally allow him to leave the village.

"Rescue mission for Haruno Sakura," the blonde Hokage announced, folding her arms. All the team members were bursting with excitement, except for the Hawk and the Beetle who were emotionless as could be. The Hawk specialized in Ink Drawings that would come to life. The Beetle had the Kekkai Genkai to control bugs. There was a knock on the door. "Come in." The door opened to reveal a woman with brown hair in two buns. Her chocolate eyes scanned the seven.

"You wanted to see me, Hokage-sama?" the girl asked.

"TenTen, I want you to meet up with Hyuuga Neji. He is on his way back to Konoha and may be fatigued and possibly injured. I need you to bring him straight back to me for mission report. Don't take him to the hospital. I will personally heal any wounds he has. The information he has concerns Haruno Sakura," Tsunade ordered. TenTen didn't stay any longer, knowing the Hokage had more to say to the team of seven. She was worried about Neji. She needed to get to him.

"What is Haruno Sakura's condition, Hokage-sama?" Nara Shikamaru asked. He hated the thought of leaving his son with his own nagging mother. Ino wouldn't be staying back to care of their toddler. She would be going with him, and he knew that getting the pink hair kounichi back was important as of right now.

"Neji did not disclose that to me in the letter. He said that he could not transport due to her health condition, and I am worried that she may be injured. Neji placed a tracker on the blue skinned Akatsuki, Kisame, when he escaped," the Hokage explained. The masked ANBU were standing next to three jounin. All three jounin were gennin senseis.

"Will you send a substitute for the gennin?" Kiba questioned. He loved his students and worried about their wellbeing every day. The Hokage nodded.

"Yuuhi Kurenai will lead Kiba's team. Mitarashi Anko will take care of Ino's team. Shiranui Genma will watch over Shikamaru's team." The three jounin agreed with these arrangements, nodding in acknowledgement. "I have a feeling Sakura would be heading north of Grass Country, so head south from Grass." No one questioned her logic. Tsunade was horrible at gambling. Her instincts would always be opposite. They would head south. That was where Sakura would be.

"Are Ino and I the designated medic nins?" Fox-chan asked. She could see her husband wanting to go already. The Hokage nodded.

"If anyone or Sakura is injured, you are to heal them right away. Keep yourselves safe. Kiba, Beetle-san, you two are the most experienced with tracking. I'm sure you will be able to sense the tracking jutsu right away." The said men agreed. "Now, go. Be safe, but bring back Haruno Sakura. Only kill Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame if necessary. Once you get Sakura back, run straight back to Konoha and do not stop unless necessary. Go. Name of mission is Rescue the Cherry Blossom." All seven were instantly at the gate, having their orders. They were out of the village within seconds. They wanted to find her as fast as they can.

"I'm coming, Sakura," Fox-kun whispered to the wind.

* * *

"Sasuke, you're being released." The Uchiha jolted out of his bed. But he had a month left in his sentence. Why were they releasing him early? The Guard Chunnin unlocked the door to the prison cell. Sasuke still had the chakra seal on him, and they won't release it for another six months to a year. He would be on probation. Sasuke wearily stepped outside of the cell. His eyes widened. He saw the blonde Hokage walking down the hallway, personally coming to let him out of jail.

"Uchiha Sasuke, for one year, you will be on probation. You are not to leave the village. Violation of your parole will put you back in jail," the slug user announced, handing him a scroll. He unrolled it. It had all the details of what it means to be on parole. It also had the Godaime Hokage signature on the bottom, stating he was free to go from prison. He was in shock. His onyx eyes read it over and over again. He couldn't believe it. His prison sentence had been cut by one month. He was free.

"Why?" was all he could muster. The Hokage chuckled.

"For good behavior. I figured you were going insane being all alone for the last month." Sasuke nodded at her answer. Somehow she knew that Naruto never came to visit him anymore.

"I assume you'll be living in the Uchiha houses." He shook his head.

"Not yet. I'm not ready for that," he responded, checking if the scroll was really real.

"Well, we can arrange for you to live an apartment if you would like," Tsunade suggested. She rested her hands on her hips, watching the Uchiha who was feeling the rush of anxiety to see the blue skies as a free man.

"Yes, please, Hokage-sama." Tsunade smiled.

"I'm afraid you won't be seeing anyone you really know. Most of them are off on missions, including Naruto." She could see him cringe at Naruto's name. She never said Sakura's name. She knew it would set him off.

The moment he set his foot outside that jail he took a gulp of fresh air. It was beautiful. He could hear the bird's chirping. He could hear the crowded markets in the center of the village. He could see blue skies as far as they could go. He wasn't barred anymore. He was free.

Tsunade placed a hand on his shoulder. "Let's go make those arrangements, so you can start your new life." Sasuke somehow smiled at the freedom he now had. He didn't have complete freedom, but he wasn't cooped up in a cage any longer. Sasuke went with her to her office. Shizune brought them several papers, and they looked over them for the next hour, choosing a suitable plan for how Sasuke should live. He still had a lot of money in the Uchiha account. He would be able to afford living without working the next year. They chose a small one room apartment near the Hokage building.

Everything stopped suddenly when there was a knock on the door. Tsunade allowed whoever it was in. His eyes widened a little at who came in.

"Hyuuga Neji, TenTen, I'm glad you finally made it back," the Hokage greeted. Sasuke remembered what Naruto had said the last time he had shown up to visit Sasuke in his jail cell. Hyuuga Neji had been on the mission to find Sakura. Sasuke was out of his seat in seconds.

"Where's Sakura?" Sasuke asked, knowing that Neji knew of her whereabouts. The Hyuuga looked at the Uchiha. He shook his head at the Sharingan user. He wasn't allowed to disclose the information to anyone but the Hokage.

"Sasuke-san, you must leave," the Godaime ordered. "Go explore your new apartment."

"But Sakura-"

"You'll find out soon." Sasuke sighed, taking his leave from the room. He bumped into Neji's shoulder purposefully just to annoy him. TenTen growled at him. Sasuke would lose any fight he got into. No chakra. No winning. He shut the door behind him but pressed his ear against the door as silently as he could. Tsunade knew he would do this. She made a few hand signs and touched the wall of her office. She let the chakra flow through the whole room. She sealed it from anyone who may be listening, meaning Sasuke wouldn't know anything. She felt Sasuke walk away at that moment. Shizune would help him find his apartment. He didn't need to know what would take place in this meeting.

Neji was already lying on the couch in the room. The Hokage insisted on checking him over while they discussed it. He could feel her warm chakra grazing over him, searching for anything wrong. TenTen stood over their shoulder. Her eyes were worried over what wound Neji could have possibly gotten.

"Well, speak." She could feel the strain on his chakra. Some of his chakra wasn't being allowed to move freely. She changed that instantly, and he gasped out in relief now that he had his full extent of chakra. His meditation didn't completely get rid of the chakra seal Uchiha Itachi had placed on him. "What's wrong with Sakura?"

"I trailed them. I over thought the situation, thinking I would have any chance of getting her back. I was in a fight with a female Akatsuki and suffered a major wound. I wounded her back. They captured me." Neji felt Tsunade's chakra healing a couple of cuts and bruises on his legs. "Sakura was forced to heal the female. They threatened her with my life. She did end up healing me right after she finished with the female." TenTen smiled at the medical knowledge Sakura possessed.

"Did she have any chance of escaping? Was she resisting them?"

"Sakura had her chakra sealed whenever she was not healing. They sealed mine as well. Escape wasn't possible. I spent the last month with her discussing many things. We were fed. She was given clothing every two days. I wore the same thing for the whole month. She was almost killed by their leader, Pein. She couldn't heal herself, so I had to use the ANBU techniques I know to heal her. She helped out, but she had a lot of chakra exhaustion. She was fine afterwards." He didn't want to tell Tsunade about Sakura and Itachi, but he knew he had to.

"What was her health condition?" the Hokage asked, worried about her apprentice. There was a long pause.

"Sakura is pregnant." Tsunade was stunned. She kept her concentration on healing the rest of Neji's wounds.

"Was she-?" He had to answer her.

"She was raped by Uchiha Itachi," Neji announced. TenTen gasped at this news.

"Anything else?"

"They want her to join Akatsuki as their medic-nin." Tsunade shook her head.

"She would never go through with it, of course." She stood up when she finished healing him. She could feel her eyes well up with water. Her precious apprentice who she thought of as her own daughter had been tortured, frightened, beaten.

"We both agreed that I couldn't take her with me on my voyage back here. She was taken to her doctor's appointment which it seems Itachi arranged for her pregnancy. I broke the chakra seal as best as I could. I got into a minor fight with Kisame, but I easily took him out. Sakura distracted Itachi long enough so that I could escape. I don't know what happened after I left, but I assume they would've moved her to another base." Neji sat up, feeling TenTen sitting down next to him. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

"I was so worried, Neji-kun," TenTen whispered. She felt like crying with happiness that she had him back with her. Of course she was sad about what happened to Sakura, but she was glad to have back the man she loved safe and sound. He returned the hug, putting his arms around TenTen's waist. His mind was on Sakura. They could kill her if they wanted to. Tsunade looked at the couple, remembering the times when Dan was still alive. She walked over to the window, staring out at the sky. All of her heart now was set on was protecting Sakura and Konoha. A child. Her apprentice was expecting a child.

* * *

A week passed by since they left the base. They had been traveling every day, not stopping at all except to eat and drink. She got sleep, but the Akatsuki didn't. They'd have to give in soon right? It had been raining the last couple days, which she assumed meant that the area they were in was Rain Country. It wouldn't pour down on them everyday twenty-four seven if they weren't in Rain. She sneezed while on Itachi's back, shivering a little. Itachi noticed her feeling weakened.

"Kisame, let's stop for a few hours," Itachi ordered to the blue shark man. The shark boy wanted to complain, but Itachi gave him a look that said to shut up. They stopped under a cover of trees, shielding them from the rain. He put Sakura down on a log, sitting down next to her. She sneezed again. Itachi checked over her, noticing she was freezing cold. Their cloaks are soaking wet on the outside, but they were designed to stay dry inside. Sakura felt weak, putting her head in her hands. She felt Itachi's hand on her forehead. She was burning up. The medic-nin caught a cold.

"I'm fine, Itachi," she muttered, pulling his hand off. She sneezed again.

"I can tell when someone is sick, Sakura." Itachi was watching her reaction. Kisame was looking around for any threats. They could sense if there was any chakra in the area. They were nearby a town, but that was it. Sakura protested against Itachi.

"I'm not sick!" she snapped. Itachi didn't move an inch. He was not fazed by her mood swings. She sneezed again. Kisame started laughing.

"Me thinks you are, girly," Kisame retorted, poking her in the forehead with his finger. She waved his finger off, annoyed at him.

"Can you heal yourself?" Itachi asked, staring out into the distance. Sakura shook her head.

"Medic-nin can't cure diseases with chakra. They have to use medicine to assist in healing diseases. A cold is in need of medicine or a lot of rest," Sakura explained. If she wasn't careful in healing a cold all by herself without medicine, she could mutate it into pneumonia, and she didn't have the right chakra control since she was pregnant. She made sure to at least surround the baby with chakra to protect it from any sickness she may get.

She tried focusing chakra on her immune system to let it act and improve the chances of her getting better. The chakra wouldn't go the right way, making her cough badly. She messed up. The chakra failed to improve the immune system, instead it decreased it. She put more chakra into the barrier around the fetus. She couldn't let her sickness get to her child.

"You don't have the medicine with you?" Sakura opened her bag, looking through it. She didn't have that specific medicine needed for colds, but she didn't know if she had accidentally evolved it to pneumonia. She shook her head at Itachi's question. He stood up. There was a town nearby. He took off his cloak and put on top of Sakura's to keep her warm. "Kisame, watch Sakura. I'll be back soon." Sakura watched him disappear in seconds. Why was he leaving?

Kisame grumbled, annoyed at having to babysit her. She sneezed again and hugged Itachi's cloak to her. She hoped Itachi would come back soon. She didn't like the way Kisame was watching her. There was a murderous aura coming from him. She started breaking out into cough, coughing into the collar. She took a deep breath after finishing her episode. She checked the collar. No blood. That was good.

Itachi came back after an hour, carrying a paper bag. He handed it to her, his breathing uneven. He was soaked now. His hair was damp from all the rain. He had gone as fast as he could. For some reason, he felt he needed to make sure Sakura wasn't suffering from her cold. She opened the paper bag. It held a bottle of water, a sandwich, and a bottle of medicine. Well she was hungry for a sandwich.

Her hands were starting to shake, trying to open the top of the medicine bottle. Why did it have to child proof? Itachi took the bottle out of her hands, noticing her difficulty of getting the medicine out. He popped it open and putting a couple of the pills in his hands. He placed it in Sakura's hand and opened the water bottle for her. She swallowed, wincing at the disgusting taste of it, quickly washing it away with the water. She put chakra into herself and mixed it with the medicine, making it flow through her system and putting it into her immune system. She felt it slowly working, but she would need must rest before she could actually get any better. She ate some of her sandwich but wrapped it back up, satisfied with the fullness it gave to her growling stomach.

"Itachi-san, may I sleep?" Sakura asked her captor. He nodded, understanding her need for some shut eye. She put her backpack on the ground and rested her head on it while lying down on the dirt floor, drifting off into the quiet world of sleep. Itachi was being nice to her. She wouldn't take advantage of it, but in her mind she was wondering why he had actually gone off to get medicine for her. He could've just let her rest until she gets better without medicine. She sighed, closing her eyes, feeling new dreams come to her, dreams of a man who was there for her.

* * *

Longer chapter than usual. : ) I'm satisfied with my work so far.

Read and review pwease. I ish getting my motivation from all the wonderful reviews I get, and more reviews means more likely to write more chapters.


	7. Dead

I edited this chapter, so I reposted it if any of you were wondering why there was a new chapter but it was actually this one.

Muhahahahahaha. I like long chapters. Sorry, it took two weeks to update. I couldn't figure out what I wanted to write. Warning: Character Death.

**To Lin:** You asked why Sasuke doesn't know who Sakura's kidnapper is. He will eventually know, and when he does, he probably will go in a fit of rage. Or maybe he will never know. : D I has an evil mind.

**Disclaimer: **I want Itachi! Pwease? No? Fine XP. I own nothing except for this plot.

* * *

Chapter 7: Dead

* * *

"_Congratulations, it's a baby boy!" Sakura exclaimed, wrapping the newborn in the blue blanket after cleaning off all the blood and fluids that had covered him. She placed the newborn into the new mother's arms. The mother eyes welled up with tears of happiness. The father sat on the stool, rubbing his sore hands. The mother had quite a grip while pushing the baby out. _

"_Shikamaru, Ino, have you thought of a name for him?" a nurse asked. Sakura proceeded to heal up any tearing on Ino and cleaned her up. Ino wasn't shy. She trusted Sakura to be the one to deliver the baby. The last hour she'd been screaming at Shikamaru for ever thinking that protection was too troublesome. Now, she was smiling sweetly at the little bundle in her arms. The baby yawned and nuzzled into her mother's chest._

"_Shikamaru, I told you to pick a name," Ino whispered, not wishing to disturb the peace of the little boy in her arms. He grunted._

"_Too troublesome," Shikamaru groaned. He may think naming the child was too troublesome, but the way his eyes were shining. They were both young, only seventeen. They didn't know how to care for a child, but their parents promised to help them, even though they were disappointed the two hadn't been thinking when they were in the moment. Now their parents were grandparents, and they were the parents of a little boy. _

"_I am not going to have a son with no name! Sakura, could you hit him for me?" Ino screeched, trying to keep the little newborn happy even if she was yelling at his father._

"_Now, now, both of you need to agree on it. It shouldn't be _too troublesome_ to come up with a name for your son, Shikamaru," Sakura scolded. _

"_Why don't you hold him, Shika?" Ino suggested. Shikamaru straightened up._

"_That… isn't too troublesome," Shikamaru muttered. He gently took his son out of Ino's arm, careful to support the head with his hand. Ino was smiling. She saw the tears in Shikamaru's eyes. The two weren't in love with each other at all, but they both loved their son. Sakura smiled, checking the machine for Ino's vitals. Everything was healthy and normal. Both of them felt like the luckiest people in the world. It was their first time together that one night nine months ago. Somehow it ended up being lucky by giving them the son in their arms. _

"_May I suggest a name?" Sakura beamed at them. She just figured it out. Ino nodded, glancing at her son who had his father's brown hair. The child opened its eyes for a little bit, staring up at his father._

"_Ino, he has your eyes," Shikamaru said, smiling at her. He looked at Sakura and nodded._

"_Kichirou," Sakura named. It meant lucky son._

"_Kichirou," both of the new parents replied, happy with the name._

"_Hello, little Kichirou," Shikamaru whispered to the little boy. The little boy cooed at the name._

_

* * *

_

Sakura pressed her eyes closed, smelling the damp rain air. She didn't want to get up. She knew that once she did they would be traveling again, going to whatever destination it was. She didn't know where they were taking her. She knew they were in Rain Country right now, but that was it. She didn't want to move. The air was intoxicating. The warmth of the two cloaks she had on was enough to keep her sleepy. Itachi gave her the cloak to wear to keep her warm since her whole body had been shivering from her sickness.

She unwillingly opened her eyes. She could see Kisame standing by the clearing next to them, watching for any enemy chakra signatures. He was bored out of his mind. She looked over to the tree next to her and saw Itachi sitting against it with his eyes closed. He was sitting there without his cloak on. He seemed cold, but she knew he probably molded his chakra to warm himself up. She could hear his even breathing. He was sleeping. He looked so peaceful and not like his cold, emotionless self. She felt a desire to touch his face, the desire to sit by his side. She shook it off.

No, he was her captor. He was the one who took away her innocence. He was the one who got her pregnant. He was the one who was going to become a father. She slapped herself. Why was she even thinking that her child was the child of Uchiha Itachi? It was disgusting. He was a criminal. He didn't deserve to be called a father. He already murdered his entire family, except for Sasuke. Would he even think about murdering their child? Would he kill him or her once it was out of her womb? She unconsciously sat in front of Itachi and stared at him wondering what he would do.

Itachi snapped his eyes open when he saw Sakura on her knees, staring back at him. She yelped at him opening his eyes so quickly. It scared her. "Sakura, what are you doing?" he asked her. She glared at him.

"Wondering how I'm going to kill you," she retorted, folding her arms on her chest.

"Hn." She gawked her eyes at him. He spoke Sasuke's language.

"So you speak that language," she muttered, taking his cloak off of her. He said nothing. His eyes were a deep black sea, and she couldn't see anything in them. She threw his cloak at him and stood up, turning towards Kisame. "Thank you, Itachi." She didn't want to say it to his face. He grunted in return, putting the cloak on himself. Why was she so comfortable around them?

"Itachi, we leaving now?" the shark man asked, eyeing Sakura's distant look. She sighed. Every time they traveled, they would distance themselves from anyone who was looking for them. She must've slept for nine hours, giving whoever was coming for her time to get to them. Kisame and Itachi were already traveling fast enough. They were much faster than any squad she had ever been in with ANBU. They would likely reach their destination within the next two days. She couldn't help but get annoyed. She could try to run right now if she wanted to. If she put enough chakra into herself, she could likely get away for a certain amount of distance. Sakura remembered the teleportation jutsu all ANBU knew. Maybe she could do it. It would put a lot of strain on her in this state, but it could work.

"Sakura, time to go." She would have to try another time when both of them were distracted. When would they ever be distracted? Sakura sighed.

* * *

"Kiba, anything?" Fox-kun yelled, jumping to the next branch. Kiba nodded.

"I can sense the tracking jutsu Neji put on the one called Kisame," Kiba exclaimed. Fox-kun grunted in return.

"There's two other people with Kisame," Beetle said. A bug crawled on his shoulder. Beetle could tell what it was saying to him. He jumped to another branch with Fox-chan and Hawk right behind him. Ino and Shikamaru were on either side of Kiba.

"Can you tell who they are, Sh- Beetle?" Ino asked. She always slipped up on ANBU protocol. Names were not to be said. All ANBU were anonymous.

"One of them has a powerful chakra signature. The other my bug has recognized easily to be Haruno Sakura." Fox-kun let out a scream of excitement, happy that they were on the right track to find Sakura.

"We may find our youthful cherry blossom finally!" the frog exclaimed. The hawk nodded in agreement. The frog was all the way at the back of the group. The screech of an actual hawk was heard from the sky. The group came to halt, recognizing it as a Konoha messenger. The hawk flew down and dropped a paper in Fox-kun's hands. He read it over.

_Fox-kun,_

_Haruno Sakura is pregnant. Make sure no harm comes to her. You have permission to kill Uchiha Itachi on sight._

_-Hokage_

His shoulders tensed up immediately with anger. He saw the hidden message in the letter. Rape.

"N- Fox-kun, what is it?" Ino asked, seeing the dangerous aura radiating off of their team leader. She really needed to learn ANBU protocol.

"I'm going to kill that bastard!" he yelled out. Fox-chan flinched and touched his shoulder instantly. Fox-kun didn't stop shaking at his wife's touch.

"Calm down!" Fox-kun flinched at his wife ordering him around. She wasn't leader of the team, but she had authority over him as his wife. Normally, she wasn't supposed to go on missions with him since it was ANBU regulation to keep people in a relationship on separate teams, but she and her husband were both needed on this team.

"Saku-chan," he whispered.

"What about Sakura?" Ino asked, worried. She saw Fox-kun put his forehead on Fox-chan's shoulder. Something was really worrying Fox-kun. He turned to look at the whole group.

"Sakura's pregnant." Ino gasped. How was that possible? She'd never had sex with anybody before. She's had boyfriends before. She's gone out with Shino for a month. She went out with Neji for six months. She had gone on two dates with Kiba, but none of them were recent. Ino would know if Sakura was a virgin or not, and she was.

"You don't mean…" The group was watching the conversation between the two of them.

"We have permission to kill Uchiha Itachi," he announced. Ino's eyes widened. She clasped a hand over her mouth. Fox-chan was holding her husband's hand to comfort him.

"He raped Sakura?" Ino screamed. There was a dangerous aura over the whole group now. They were seeping with the urge to protect the cherry blossom who had been taken from them. Fox-kun's nod confirmed it. They were on the move in seconds, increasing their speed quickly. They could all sense five chakra signatures suddenly.

"Two people joined their group," the beetle said. He could recognize the same three people his bugs had been following. They stopped at a clearing, finding five people wearing Akatsuki cloaks. Three were surrounding two of them. One person was lying on the ground. A guy had his knees on either side, sitting on the person's legs. They could see the pink hair of the person on the ground.

"No! Stop! I won't do it again!"

* * *

Sasuke entered the Hokage's office. He saw the blonde woman signing several papers.

"Paperwork," she grumbled.

"Hokage-sama, you called for me?" Sasuke stood in front of her desk like a good boy. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"You won't be doing anything for the next year, so I'm thinking you'll get extremely bored. How would you like to be my errand boy?" the Hokage said, not looking up from her paperwork. Sasuke grimaced at it, feeling the strain on already seeing how her apprentices did everything for her. "Shizune is needed in the hospital more now, and I don't have anyone to do errands for me. Consider it your community service." She gave a mischievous grin. His eye twitched. He was being conned into being her slave. She moved her legs. He heard the bottles of Sake clinking under the desk. There were a lot of bottles.

"Hokage-sama, have you been drinking?" Sasuke asked, a bit worried about the smile on her face.

"Yes, errand boy. I'm drinking because I'm worried. My poor Sakura-chan," she grumbled, pressing her fist on the desk. Sasuke's posture immediately changed at the posture. The Hokage hiccupped.

"Where is she?"

"She's pregnant," the Hokage said, a tear rolling down her cheek.

"Pregnant?"

"She was raped."

"Nani?" Sasuke yelled. He was about to grab Tsunade's collar and demand answers. He was furious, but he had no strength. He had no chakra. "Where is Sakura?" he demanded. The Hokage flinched at his loud voice.

"Be a good errand boy," Tsunade replied, pulling a bottle from under the table and drinking it. The Uchiha growled.

"Who took her?"

"I can't tell you that, Sasuke-kun." She giggled and her head dropped on the desk. He could hear her breathing going even. He looked over the paperwork quickly, trying to find any clue without waking her. He found several letters piled on the desk. They were ANBU letters. He looked through each one, trying to find anything with Sakura's name on it. He went through three of them, and the fourth one made him drop to the floor.

_Sakura was there with Akatsuki in Grass._

It was a sentence from a letter from Neji. Sakura was with Akatsuki. Sasuke bolted out of the office, leaving the door wide open. A couple of chunnin yelled at him to stop running. He ignored them. He wished he had his chakra back.

"_Sasuke, I promise you."_ He could hear her voice in his ear.

He ran through the village and stopped in front of a mansion. He was panting, tired from all the running. He hadn't ran like that for years, not since he was put in jail.

"_I promise to let you go after him when you get the chance."_ He stared up at the Hyuuga mansion.

"Neji!" Sasuke yelled at the large compound. He walked through the gates. He could see the Hyuuga he was looking for standing in the training grounds. He was watching him.

"_Sasuke, I will let you go free if you need to get him."_

The Hyuuga's white eyes looked at the Uchiha catching his breath. "Uchiha, what are you doing here?"

Sasuke immediately grabbed the man's collar. He wish he had his chakra so he could at least seem intimidating. "Who the hell took Sakura?" Sasuke yelled. Neji grabbed Sasuke's hands and released himself.

"You'll just put her more in danger," Neji retorted. Sasuke growled. "You can't do anything to me, Sasuke. You don't have access to any of your jutsus or your strength. You're Sharingan can't be used." Sasuke dropped his head to look at the floor.

"Please, Neji. Tell me who took her." He was begging now. There was nothing else he could do.

"Sasuke, I don't know who took her." Sasuke flinched.

"You're a liar. I know it was you who went on the mission to look for her! I know you were captured by Akatsuki! I know you found her! Now tell me! Was it Itachi?" Sasuke was desperate.

_She sat down on the stool outside of his jail cell. She smiled at him. She made this promise to him when she first brought him back. She was going to go through with it._

"_Sasuke, I promise you. I promise to let you go after him when you get the chance. Sasuke, I will let you go free if you need to get him." She put her hand through the bars and touched his neck. She giggled. "I will let you go after Itachi, Sasuke." He felt the chakra coursing through her fingers. _

"_Sakura?"_

"_I promise you I will let you go get him. I promise that no matter what, you will get your chance." He fell unconscious at her words._

"I can't tell you, Sasuke, but I'll tell you this. I hope the bastard pays for what he's done to her. I want her back as much as you do," Neji explained. He crossed his hands on his chest.

"Why didn't you take her with you? Why? Why would you leave her with them?" Sasuke yelled. "Please, Neji. Was it my brother?" Neji scowled. Sasuke wouldn't leave without an answer.

"Yes." Sasuke felt the power rushing through him in that moment. The anger filled him completely. Something broke.

"_A jutsu, Sasuke. I put a jutsu on you to break the chakra seal if you ever need to go after him. No matter where we are, half of my chakra will be released, and you will be free."_

Those words were told to him the next week he saw her after he fell unconscious the last time he saw her. He powered up the chakra in his eyes. The Sharingan activated. Neji hands dropped to his sides. "Sasuke! Don't!" But he couldn't stop the Sharingan user. He was gone, missing from the area. He turned on his Byuukagan and tried to look for him, but he was already out of range. Sasuke was gone. "Shit," Neji muttered.

* * *

Kisame and Itachi were exchanging glances. She looked between the two. They were having a conversation with their eyes. Was this her chance? She waited a couple seconds. She immediately turned left and put a burst of chakra into her feet. She kept on running through the trees, not looking back. Sakura couldn't feel their chakra signatures behind her. They weren't following her. Was she being let go?

She collided with a person, falling off the branch she had just jumped on. She waited for impact with the ground, but she never got there. The person grabbed her ankle, and she was dangling from his hand. She opened her eyes and saw the ground below her. It was a good one hundred feet to fall. She lifted her head up to see who caught her. She saw orange, and then she saw the one thing she was trying to get away from.

"Are you freaking kidding me?" she screamed. Anybody in the forest would be able to hear her. She was angry. She thought she was getting away, but the only reason they hadn't gone after her was because of this. If she had gone in any other direction, she would've been chased after. She groaned, looking back at the ground. The blasted black cloak with red clouds was worn by the person who stopped her from falling to her possible death. She screamed at the top of her lungs, trying to get her ankle free from his grip.

"Why are you wearing our cloak, yeah?" She looked up at the one who possessed the voice. He was standing next to the man who caught her.

"Is Tobi a good boy?" the man who caught her said in a childish voice.

"No, you are not a good boy!" Sakura snapped. The one who wasn't holding her ankle chuckled at her. "Put me down, damn it!" Those weren't wise words one hundred feet above the ground.

"Again, why are you wearing our cloak, yeah?" She glared at him.

"I don't know why either." Sakura huffed out.

"Tobi thinks maybe she knows," the man holding her says. Does he speak in third person or something?

"No, I do not know!" Sakura exclaimed, struggling once again to get foot free. She then felt two very familiar chakra signals enter the area. "I hate you, Uchiha Itachi!" She narrowed her eyes at the Uchiha who had just shown up. "You jerk! I hate you! I hate you!" She screamed again at the top of her lungs.

"Hn." That just made her scream again.

"I hate you!" Sakura yelled at the man. He had his Sharingan on.

"Is Tobi a good boy?" the orange masked man asked once again.

"Yes, you caught our little escape artist," Kisame replied, grinning and putting the Samehada on his shoulder. He was glad he wouldn't have to use it. Tobi let out a yippee.

"I hate you as well, Kisame!" She was naming everybody who was here that she hates.

"Do I know you, yeah? Your pink hair looks vaguely familiar," the blonde haired man asked, now satisfied knowing why she had on her cloak.

"I hate you too!" Sakura then looked at Tobi. "And Sakura hates Tobi!" Great. She just spoke in third person. She tried to get her foot free. "Why can't you just let me go? I don't deserve this!" Itachi said nothing.

"Deidara, Tobi, did leader send you?" the Uchiha asked. The two nodded. She felt the blood rushing down into her head. She felt suddenly light headed. She was hanging upside down too long. She groaned as she felt the nausea come to her again.

"Hai. He said we should get to know the new girl, yeah. Also he wanted us to ask her a question," Deidara explained. He squatted down and helped support her back so she was up enough to look at her. "Will you join Akatsuki, yeah?" Sakura shook her head again and again. Never. She would never join them. He shrugged and let go of her back, letting her fall back to hanging by her foot again.

"She's feisty." Kisame grinned.

"Fuck you," Sakura hissed. Kisame roared up into laughter.

"Well, if that's what you want, we can go do that in the bushes right now." Sakura glared at him. He and Itachi were standing on the branch a few feet in front of her.

"Let me go damn it!" She was glad she was wearing shorts under her cloak instead of a skirt. Her cloak had fallen down to her waist. Itachi ignored her temper tantrum. "You stupid kidnappers! You asshole rapist!" she screamed. His eyes narrowed at her. He was gone in seconds. He grabbed her by the waist and landed on the ground. The other three Akatsuki jumped down from the trees and surrounded them. She was being held upside down. She yelped when she was dropped onto her back. She was glad it was only a foot to drop. She felt the pressure in her lungs from the sudden collision with the ground. She gasped for breath.

"Tobi is a good boy!" Tobi exclaimed, probably grinning from ear to ear behind his mask.

"I hate you all!" Sakura choked out. She heard an evil chuckle coming from one of them. It sent a shiver up her back just hearing it.

"Punish her for trying to escape," a voice said. It sounded so evil. She didn't know who it had come from, but she felt so much fear rush over her. "Itachi, punish her in the only way you can." She looked into Itachi's eyes, feeling the tears come into her eyes. This voice knew what Itachi had done to her. Itachi didn't want to do this. Sakura was lying on the ground. Her silk pink hair was sprawled around her head. Her lip quivered. Itachi placed his knees on either side of her, sitting down on her knees. She shook her head, the tears escaping her.

His eyes. Somehow she could see the apologies in his eyes.

Itachi's right hand touched her lower thigh and started moving slowly up her inner thigh. The memories came into her head again. So much fear went into her. He put his hand in her shorts. Her eyes widened.

"No! Stop! I won't do it again!" she screamed. She began to sob. She tried to struggle.

She felt someone tug her arm and pull her up away from Itachi. She felt arms wrap around her in a hug. She felt safe in these arms. She sobbed into whoever's chest it was.

"You asshole! What the hell did you do to her? I'm going to kill you!" the man who now held her yelled. She instantly calmed down when she realized whose voice it was. She looked up at the man's face, but she didn't see one. She saw a mask.

The mask belonging to her own ANBU teammate, the fox mask. Fox-kun. She was safe. They had found her. She gave a weak smile at the sudden chance of freedom.

"Naruto," she whispered as low as she could. She relaxed in his arms. She didn't want to look around. She just wanted to shut her eyes and bury her face in his chest.

"Sakura!" a voice called. She was glad to hear that voice. Ino. Safety and friendship.

"I'm afraid you're going to have to return our little cherry blossom, yeah. We have more business to do with her, yeah," Deidara explained to whoever was here. She didn't know who was here right now. She just knew those two. She tensed up when she heard a sickening crack and a blood curdling scream.

"Ino!" Sakura exclaimed, turning around in Naruto's arms. She saw her friend face down on the ground, bleeding from the back. She now saw who was there. Naruto, Ino, Hinata, Sai, Shino, Kiba, Lee, Akamaru! They were all here, but she had no time to greet them. Ino was seriously injured.

"Kiba! Get Sakura out of here!" Naruto ordered. Kiba was at his side. He handed Sakura over to the ninja who owned Akamaru.

"Hai, Fox-kun!" Kiba picked her up bridal style. She saw Shino and Sai were in a fight with Tobi. Lee was fighting with Kisame. Naruto and Hinata were approaching Itachi. Deidara centered on Kiba and Sakura. "Let's go, Akamaru!" The two broke out into a run with Sakura. Deidara was quick to follow. The team just needed to fight them enough so they can get away, just long enough to let Sakura get far way enough so that they can escape. She was worried about Ino. Ino wasn't moving. Kiba kept moving from branch to branch trying to escape the Bomb user.

Shikamaru kneeled by Ino's side. "Ino!" Shikamaru cried out. He was worried about the mother of his child. He was glaring furiously at Kisame. He broke into battle stance and began to fight with the sword wielder. Was Ino dead? He used his shadow jutsu on Kisame, locking him into place so Lee could get a hit.

"Fox-chan! Check on Ino!" Naruto ordered, breaking into a fight with Itachi. He lunged at him with a Rasengan. Hinata nodded, kneeling by Ino. She put healing chakra into her back. She winced at the damage. Kisame had taken them by surprise and slammed his Samehada into Ino's back. That sickening crack had put Hinata into panic. It had knocked Ino out cold. Hinata bit her lips, trying to keep from crying.

Ino's spine had been severed at her lower back.

She would live most likely, but Hinata knew what this could do.

Ino could become paralyzed from the waist down.

Hinata picked up the girl carefully and put her onto her back. She had to get Ino away from here before she gets hurt anymore. The ANBU had only got Sakura away because the Akatsuki had been distracted with Itachi punishing Sakura. She quickly followed Kiba and Deidara who were now fighting with each other a mile away.

* * *

"What the hell did you do to her?" Naruto yelled at the red eyed man in front of him.

"Whatever do you mean, Kyuubi?" Itachi stood there, waiting for Naruto to make another move. Even with the mask on, Itachi knew that this was Uzumaki Naruto.

"You raped Sakura!" Naruto formed thirty kage bunshins, forming a Rasengan in each one's hand. "I'm going to kill you, you bastard, so that you can never touch her again!" His thirty clones made a run at the Uchiha. The Uchiha frowned. The Rasengans collided with him, but there was a loud poof. Substitution. The log that replaced him broke into a million splinters from the impact. Naruto looked around for the Sharingan wielder.

"I enjoyed every bit of it," Itachi whispered into Naruto's ear. He was lying to himself. He didn't enjoy breaking that innocence, but Naruto didn't know that. Naruto clenched his fists. His eyes flashed red. He kicked behind him but missed as Itachi disappeared once again. The fox growled, annoyed at that he kept missing. He was then punched in the stomach. He gasped for air.

* * *

Kisame broke the shadow jutsu and swung his Samehada. He grinned at the shadow user who dodged the swipe. "The Samehada would like more chakra."

"You're going to pay for what you did to Ino," Shikamaru said. His laziness was not apparent right now. He was more worried about the blonde haired girl who was unconscious. He was worried about Sakura too, but he didn't know if Ino was going to live.

* * *

"Tobi is a good boy!" Tobi avoided Sai's ink monsters. He put chakra into his hands and got rid of the monsters who trying to get him, making ink splatter onto the ground. He immediately disappeared from thin air when Shino's bugs started around him. Shino was annoyed that this man could so easily dodge everything that was thrown at him.

* * *

Kiba continued to run, carrying Sakura in his arms. He heard the flapping of a bird approaching them. He jumped out of the way immediately but was thrown off balance form the clay bird exploding. His back collided with a tree. He kept his hold on Sakura. Sakura looked up at Kiba's face.

"I'm sorry, Sakura." Sakura tensed at those words. Those were the words that Itachi used. She shook her head at Kiba. Kiba kept on running to a clearing. A clay bird collided with him from behind. He went flying through the air with Sakura. His back began to bleed. He lost his balance and let go of Sakura. Both rolled on the ground painfully. Akamaru rolled on the ground as well.

"I can't let you escape with our goods." Sakura pushed herself off the ground and glared at Deidara. Deidara stood in the middle of the clearing. He smirked at the cherry blossom girl. He was only three feet away from her. He reached his hand out. Akamaru jumped on him and bit into his arm. Deidara yelped and threw the dog off of him. Sakura took a step back. Kiba was in front of her and record speed, ready to defend her. Deidara growled in frustration, jumping back immediately when Kiba swiped at him with his claws. Deidara put his hand in his pocket and allowed the mouths on his hands to begin to chew clay and turn it into whatever he wished. A thousand clay beetles took to the air, all flying at the dog man. Kiba grabbed Sakura around the waist and started jumping out of the way. He placed he jumped from exploded.

"Kiba!" Sakura screamed when the beetles finally actually hit them. Kiba was forced to let go of Sakura. Akamaru jumped onto Deidara's back, distracting the bomb maker. Sakura flew back and hit a tree from the explosion. Kiba fell to the ground feeling the flames licking his legs. He groaned in pain. Sakura coughed up blood. She checked herself over. She had broken a couple ribs. She placed a glowing green hand to her heart, immediately healing the rib that threatened to puncture it. She coughed again. She knew that one of the ribs did puncture a lung. Kiba teamed up with Akamaru and began to fight in the way they were meant to. Akamaru turned into a Kiba clone.

She watched them while mending the broken ribs leftover. She fixed the one in her lung and immediately healed the hole in her lung, not wanting to lose too much air or drown in her own blood. Sakura panted and put her head against the tree, closing her eyes.

"Sakura!" Sakura looked in the direction the female voice had come from. Hinata approached the pink haired girl. "Sakura! We have to help Ino!" She looked at the blonde haired girl on Hinata's back, feeling the tears forming in her own eyes. Ino was knocked out cold.

"Go, Sakura! Run!" Kiba yelled to the three girls he saw. He dodged another clay bomb. Sakura nodded, standing up, her knees shaking a little. Kiba and Akamaru were using Beast Human Clone. Both of them worked together to fend off Deidara as long as they could. Sakura and Hinata started to run away from the area, getting as far as they could so Sakura could take a look at Ino. They reached a small area that was hidden by the numerous trees surrounding it.

"Here," Sakura muttered, receiving a nod in reply from the Hyuuga. Hinata eased Ino onto the ground, laying her on her stomach. Sakura put chakra into her hand and started to analyze the damage. She bit her lip when she realized the damage on it. The damage was great. It might not even be repairable.

"Her spine. I can't fix it right now," Sakura whispered, closing her eyes in defeat. She knew that Hinata probably already checked the spine. She knew the Uzumaki girl probably already knew the extent of this damage. Sakura didn't want to say anything. She didn't want to make it true. The spine had several nerves in it. It was the central nervous system. "You have to get her to Tsunade as fast as you can. I would try, but I don't have enough chakra or control over my chakra. You probably know why, don't you?" Fox-chan nodded. Both wouldn't say it. Tsunade probably wouldn't even be able to fix this. Hinata's eyes traveled to Sakura's stomach. She could see the foreign chakra in Sakura's belly. She could see the chakra barrier Sakura had around it.

"I'm so sorry he did that to you, Sakura," Fox-chan consoled. Sakura focused on Ino, blinking away the tears that threatened her once again. Sakura put a hand on her own lower abdomen, using her chakra to feel for the child. It was safe, despite her stress. Sakura smiled sweetly. "You're not going to get rid of it, are you?" Sakura shook her head.

"I want to keep it. Even if Itachi is the father, I am his or her mother, and I know that I want this child more than anything. He or she is my light, even though it was conceived through blood," Sakura said. She hadn't talked to Neji like this, but Fox-chan she trusted more. She would always instill her secrets into her best friend. "The night he raped me was so painful. It was so terrifying. It's his way of getting control over me." Her voice faltered. The control that Itachi had was so great now. The punishment she received when the ANBU got here was proof that. She was scared of what he would do to her. She placed a hand on Ino's wound, putting healing chakra into it. "I'll stop the pain and start healing as much as I can, but the spine has so many nerves in it. If I did one wrong thing, I could kill her." She could feel the spine was only healing a little bit. The rest was refusing to be healed. She stopped. She couldn't do any more for Ino. Sakura placed her hands in her lap.

A blast erupted in the forest. Sakura's eyes widened. It was a huge explosion where Kiba was, where Akamaru was. Sakura instinctively started running towards it, leaving Hinata and Ino behind.

"Sakura! Stop!" Fox-chan yelled. Sakura turned to look at her and shook her head. She knew Kiba needed help. She knew it in her heart. She was risking her own chance to escape by going back to Kiba.

"Take care of Ino, Hinata-chan," Sakura said, giving her a weak smile. Hinata's mask hid whatever expression she was giving Sakura. Sakura took one last look at Ino and then nodded at Hinata. She disappeared into the dust, running to where she could sense Kiba's weak chakra signature. The dust began to clear up as she entered the clearing she had left Deidara and Kiba at. She tried to calm down her breathing. She dropped to her knees at the sight before her. "NO! Kiba!" She tried to get herself to stand up. The whiff of blood overwhelmed her, and she could smell the scent under it. Death.

She crawled over to Kiba's body. He was too bloodied up. The shrapnel from all the explosion had split his stomach open, his intestines showing. There was a giant hole where his heart was. There was no way to save him. His wounds were great. Even Kiba knew it. He frowned that Sakura came back, but he wanted her here. She was the only one who could save Akamaru at least.

"Sakura, please save Akamaru," he gasped out. Sakura couldn't believe it.

"You're not going to die!" She put her hand on Kiba trying to heal him. She knew that it wouldn't work. He was too damaged to survive. "Kiba!" Sakura screamed in frustration, putting more chakra into Kiba's wounds. She wouldn't cry. She wouldn't!

"Sakura, please take Akamaru and run. Tell Kazumi-chan I love her," Kiba requested. Kazumi was his fiancé, the love of his life. He knew he was going to die. Sakura choked at his request. She gave a weak nod to him. He grunted in pain. Sakura eased the pain for him. Death was inevitable. Akamaru stumbled over to Kiba. He was limping. Sakura saw it. Akamaru had lost one of his front legs. If she didn't heal him, he would die from blood loss. Akamaru's head fell in her lap. She sobbed over the sight of the man and his best friend. She put a hand where Akamaru was missing a leg. She closed the wound giving as much relief as she could to the wound. There's was a stump of his old leg there, but the wound would no longer bleed. She began to sob when Kiba started petting his dog.

"I'm so sorry, Kiba," she cried out. She placed her hands back on Kiba's chest and gave him more pain relief. There was nothing she could do. His life was already gone. Akamaru whimpered and licked his face, making Kiba laugh. Sakura would never have the amount of chakra needed to save him.

"Be a good boy, Akamaru. Take care of my family," Kiba told Akamaru. Akamaru nudged Kiba's hand in reply. Kiba stared at the sky. He never looked anywhere else. Sakura could feel his breathing stop under her hand. Rivers poured out of her eyes. She didn't want this. She didn't want Kiba to be gone. Akamaru began to howl to the sky, mourning his master. Every howl he let out made Sakura sob even more. It was her fault. It was all her fault.

Footsteps in the dirt walked over to them. She didn't want to look up. She stared at Kiba's face. She closed his eyes for him, letting him be at peace. A shadow loomed over Sakura. Akamaru began to growl at the person who now stood over them. The dog tried to lunge at whoever it was but missed. Akamaru couldn't fight well with only three legs. Sakura looked up and glared at the man, ceasing her crying.

"You killed him! You killed Kiba!" she screamed at the man. The man only smirked. She stood up, slowly backing away. Akamaru jumped on the man and bit into his left arm. The man yelled out in pain, throwing the dog to the side. Akamaru yelped and passed out. He already had lost so much blood. He wasn't going to be able to handle any more pain. "Akamaru!" The man grabbed her neck.

"It's time to come with me, yeah."

"Get the hell away from me!" She clawed at Deidara. She put medical chakra into her hand and tore into the blonde man's muscles, making his arm useless. The man fought back by back slapping her with his other hand. She rolled onto the ground, clasping onto her cheek. She flipped up, putting chakra into her fist, punching the man in his chest. He stumbled backwards. He threw an explosive at her. She dodged it quickly, lunging at Deidara. He dodged and grabbed her wrist. He twisted her arm behind her back, but then she went with a poof. The real Sakura threw a chakra enhanced fist at his face, making him fly across the clearing.

"No wonder Akatsuki wants you. Your strength is great, along with your perfect chakra control. You may have not been able to save that boy, but he was already a goner. No one could have put him back together again. You outrank everyone as the best medic-nin in the world." Sakura glared at Deidara. He rubbed his sore cheek. He smirked. "Now I remember you."

"Really?"

"You're the one who killed Sasori." Sakura bit on her lip. Technically, she didn't really do it. It was Chiyo who killed him, but everyone in the world seemed to think it was Sakura who did it. "But it seems Itachi already got revenge for me, yeah," Deidara said, smiling, looking at Sakura's stomach. "Say Sakura, what kinds of art do you like, yeah? Answer right and maybe I'll let you escape from me," Deidara bargained. Sakura knew this was a trick question.

"It's impossible to answer that. I like all kinds of art!" Sakura exclaimed. Deidara chuckled.

"Wrong answer," he whispered into her ear. He had moved so fast. Only a second ago he had been across the clearing. He grabbed her. She didn't have the strength to struggle any longer. All her chakra was wiped out from all the healing and fighting she had to do. She felt like she should have more chakra, but for some reason she only had half her chakra to begin with. Where did all of her chakra go?

He walked her back to where his fellow Akatsuki members were. He had an arm around her waist. She felt too much grief. She gave up. The Akatsuki were overpowering the ANBU. She whimpered when she saw Naruto look at her. Itachi followed Naruto's gaze, seeing that Deidara had retrieved her. Itachi kicked Naruto back seeing that he was distracted and immediately disappeared over to where Deidara was. Deidara threw Sakura over to Itachi. Her back collided with Itachi's chest. Itachi used one hand to hold both of her wrists behind her back. She tried to pull away from Itachi.

"Let me go!" Sakura screamed. Her attempts to escape from Itachi's grip were futile. She couldn't try hard enough.

"You really should be careful with your belongings, Itachi, yeah." Itachi ignored him, staring down at the medic-nin. She looked at Naruto, sorrow shining her eyes.

"Naruto!" Itachi placed his other hand over her mouth. She screamed into his mouth, trying to pull her arms away from him.

"Sakura!" Naruto yelled back. Itachi pulled Sakura closer to his body. Naruto's flashed red immediately at seeing her struggling to get away.

"Kisame, Tobi, it's time to go," Itachi called. Kisame smiled and left the battle with Shikamaru and Lee quickly, poofing away from the two men. He stood by Itachi, smirking at the girl who just glared at him. Tobi was quick to follow. The ANBU watched in horror as they saw the Akatsuki had the cherry blossom back into their possession. She bit on one of Itachi's fingers, feeling his blood trickle into her mouth. He growled at the pain in his hand, pulling his hand away from her mouth for a second, trying to shake off the tiny pain.

"Naruto!" She tugged on her wrists once again, but it only tightened Itachi's grip on her. He was tired of all of her struggling. He hit her on a pressure point in her neck. "Naruto," she whispered, falling into unconsciousness. Her body fell limp towards the ground, being held up by Itachi. He shifted his arms and held her bridal style.

"No! Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled. His mask was no longer on his face. He broke out into a run, going for the four Akatsuki members.

"Naruto! Stop!" Shikamaru called, grabbing the grieving man's arm. "They'll gladly take the chance you're giving them to take you as well." Naruto frowned. The Akatsuki were still after his Kyuubi.

"Smart boy," Deidara said, waving to the ANBU, all four Akatsuki disappearing completely with Sakura. They would wait another day until they get the Kyuubi.

"Sakura!" Naruto dropped to his knees. They had failed. They failed to get Sakura back. He punched the ground. He failed Sakura. He had to focus on his team now. "Shino, who's missing?" The Beetle didn't have his mask on any longer, so his name was okay to be revealed.

"Hinata, Ino, Kiba, and Akamaru are all one mile away. As for the rest of us, we're all still alive," Shino replied, his bugs immediately giving him the info. He froze up, hearing some of his bug's speak of something horrible. The sadness on his face was evident.

"What is it, Shino?" Sai asked, taking off his mask, seeing it was no longer needed here.

"Kiba is dead."

* * *

So Sasuke has left the village, Ino's been severely injured, Sakura is still being held hostage, and Kiba is dead. How fun.

I do feel a little guilty about the punishment Sakura received from Itachi. I don't think there will be any more scenes like that. Makes me feel bad doing that Sakura-chan. : ( This is an M rated story people, so it's possible to expect many things. XD And who was that evil voice!

Read and review and I'll update fast. I wants lots and lots of reviews!


	8. Yes

Hello Hello! What's up? Update? Yes! Update! :D

**Notice:** As of June 25, 2010, I had edited Chapter 7, so if you read chapter 7 before this day then you should reread it because I changed it up a little bit. It's still the same for the most part, but it's got more content in it. The ending line is still the same ending line. So yes, it still did happen :(

**Disclaimer:** You think I own Naruto? If I did, Sasuke would never have killed Itachi, and Sakura would be with Itachi. So no. I don't own Naruto, but I own this plot!

* * *

Chapter 8: Yes

* * *

The Hokage threw her desk out the window, angry with the new turn of events. Naruto shook in fear at the woman's wrath. "Uzumaki Naruto! How could you fail? That sick bastard still has her!" Naruto's head dropped in shame. "And on top of that, Inuzuka Kiba is dead! Dead!" Hinata and Shino weren't here to witness this. They were sent over to the Inuzuka clan to notify them of the unfortunate turn of events. They were in too much grief to be able to even talk to the Hokage. They lost their teammate, the teammate they've been with since they were twelve.

Naruto was angry with himself for the way the mission had turned. His wife had lost a best friend. He had caused the sorrow that now was inflicted upon her. He lost Sakura as well. Sakura was still in Itachi's grip. He would've gone to continue the mission, but the way his team was he couldn't go any further. He was with Shino when they found Kiba. He had sent Sai, Lee, and Shikamaru to go retrieve Hinata and Ino. Shino was an emotionless person, but the look on Shino's face that day broke Naruto's heart. He had never seen Shino display any emotion until that day.

Naruto sent out a messenger bird to Konoha right away. Konoha responded quickly, sending a team of medics out to them. The medics brought three stretchers with them. Shino dropped to his knees when two medics carefully put Kiba onto a stretcher. The emotionless Shino was now grieving, the sadness written on his face causing Naruto to feel so much guilt for failing. He had sent Sakura with Kiba. He wished it had been him instead who had gone off with Sakura. Then maybe Kiba wouldn't be dead. The white sheet placed over the body confirmed the truth even more. The medics who had placed it over him feared the look of anger Shino was giving them. They were taking away Shino's best friend, but everything changed when Shino heard the whine. That whine came from Kiba's most precious friend.

Shino and Naruto watched two veterinarian medics carefully place Akamaru, Kiba's dog, onto a stretcher. The whimper that came from the dog prompted Shino to walk over to the two medics who were checking over Akamaru's wounds. Shino kneeled down and began to pet Akamaru on the head. "I'm sorry, buddy," Shino whispered to the dog. Akamaru's tail didn't wag at all. He saw the medics who were carrying the stretcher with the white sheet over it. He whimpered again. Shino walked by Akamaru's side the entire walk home, never leaving him.

They met up with the rest of the group. The cry that came from Hinata made Naruto's heart break over and over again. She began to sob, running over to the stretcher with Kiba on it. She tripped over her own feet, falling onto the ground, her face buried in the dirt. Naruto helped her sit back up. She crashed her head onto Naruto's chest and cried her heart out. She lost a best friend. She kept calling Kiba's name. Naruto just held her and tried to soothe her pain with reassuring words. Nothing could make her feel better. Not even Hinata's husband could make her feel better, the man she loved, the man she was to spend the rest of her life with. Naruto continued to rub his hand in a circle on her back, trying to make her feel better.

Shikamaru was also grieving. The medics put Yamanaka Ino on the stretcher with her stomach laying on it, while her back was exposed to everyone to see. When Ino woke up, he grabbed her hand, trying to tell her everything is okay. "I can't feel my legs." That made Shikamaru realize the extent of her wound. Shikamaru said it was just the pain reliever that the medics gave her. It was a lie. The medics hadn't even begun to try to heal her yet, so she should be able to feel her own legs.

"Kichirou will be excited to see us when we get home." This was all he could say to make Ino feel better. This was what she could look forward to. She didn't move her head to look around her, but she could hear Hinata crying. She asked Shikamaru why she was crying. Kiba was dead. That was all he had to say. Did we at least get Sakura back? He had to answer her. No. Ino began to cry. "Kichirou wants to see mommy." This made her crying hush a little. She cared for her son more than anything. Shikamaru and Ino were always going to love their son.

Lee took off his mask in respect to the people grieving. Sai said nothing about how they shouldn't be expressing their emotions so much. Both of them could understand that they were all going through so much loss, so they kept silent and let them all have their grief.

Tsunade was there at the hospital when they arrived. She immediately directed the medics to take Ino the emergency ward. Shikamaru waited outside the door, watching the light above the door. When the light finally turned off, Tsunade walked outside and sat next to him. "She might never be able to walk again. Her career as a ninja is over." He was stunned.

"Tou-san!" a child called, jumping into Shikamaru's lap. Shikamaru hugged the boy in that moment. "Tou-san, where's kaa-san?"

"Everything will be okay, Kichirou-kun." The little boy's blue eyes looked at his father, wondering what his otou-san was hiding. Tsunade pat the little three year old on the head and went back into the emergency room to see if there was anything else she could do for Ino.

Kiba was taken to the morgue for the mortician to seal up his body and make him at least look presentable enough.

Akamaru was taken to the vet right next door to the hospital. The Inuzuka there immediately worked on the dog's leg, trying to make sure there was no infection. The Inuzuka asked no questions as to why Akamaru was wounded. The man had no idea that his cousin was in the morgue, had no idea that his Aunt was going to be overwhelmed with grief, had no idea the whole clan had lost a member.

Naruto, Sai, and Lee stood there in the Hokage's office. Naruto wanted to go to his wife. He knew that she was unstable right now. He knew that his wife needed him more than anything right now. The Hokage looked at Naruto. "We've lost two ninjas and a ninja dog. Uzumaki Naruto, there is something I must tell you." Was there anything worse than Kiba being dead? Anything worse than Shikamaru being told that Ino might never be able to walk again? Anything worse than Akamaru losing his leg and being forced to retire from his career as a ninja dog?

"Hai, Hokage-sama?" He saw the grim look on Tsunade's face.

"Uchiha Sasuke has escaped from the village."

"What? But how?" Tsunade was standing in front of them since she had no desk to hide behind.

"I don't know, but somehow his chakra seal was released. Hyuuga Neji was the one who reported it to me, saying the moment Neji had been forced to tell Sasuke that it was Uchiha Itachi who had Sakura the seal broke. I'm thinking someone had placed a powerful jutsu on him that would break his seal when the opportunity arises for him to escape," Tsunade explained.

"I think I know who did it." Tsunade waited for Naruto's answer.

* * *

"_Inuzuka Kiba! What do you think you're doing?"_ _a brown long haired girl exclaimed, giggling at the boy's nervousness. He was trying to get Akamaru to drop something out of his mouth. He tried to pry the dog's teeth open. Kiba immediately turned around to look at her face. Akamaru walked over to her and dropped something at her feet. _

"_Akamaru!" Kiba scolded, trying to get the thing before she saw it. She looked down and saw a small blue box. She bent down and picked it up, not cringing at all the dog slobber on it. She stared it, trying to figure out what it is. She tried to open it, but Kiba snatched it out of her fingers, his face turning red with… a blush? _

"_Kiba-kun, what are you hiding from me?" She tried to take it back, but he used his ninjas reflexes to put it behind his back. "Kiba-kun!"_

"_Ano, Kazumi-chan… It's nothing." She pouted. He saw the pout and flinched at disappointing her. He felt the box be snatched out of his hand by a giant mouth. Kazumi held her hands out and Akamaru dropped it into her delicate fingers. Akamaru blocked Kiba from trying to get it back. Kazumi grinned at Akamaru. _

"_Good boy," she praised, opening the box. She gasped at what she saw inside it. A beautiful diamond ring with the diamond in the shape of a dog's paw. She looked up from the ring and saw Kiba get down on one knee. Her brown eyes widened in surprise. Akamaru barked in happiness._

"_I wanted this to be more romantic, but-… Kazumi-chan, will you marry me?"Kiba questioned._

"_This is romantic, baka!" She smiled sweetly at him, looking again at the ring. "Your own dog disobeyed you and proposed to me for you," she said, giggling. Akamaru barked in reply. He was devious enough to do what took Kiba forever to do._

"_Do you accept?" Kiba asked, waiting for an answer. He was nervous._

"_Of course I do!" She bent down to Akamaru and hugged him. Kiba anime dropped. "I'll marry you, Akamaru!" Kiba gawked at the happy "couple". Akamaru licked Kazumi-chan on the face, causing Kazumi stand up and look at Kiba. She surprised Kiba by glomping him. "And I'll marry you too, Inuzuka Kiba!" Kiba took the ring out of the box and placed it on her ring finger, kissing her passionately. She returned the kiss gleefully._

"_I love you," he told her._

"_I love you too, baka." She kissed him once again. She broke the kiss. "I'm going to be Inuzuka Kazumi!" she yelled out to everyone in the market place._

_

* * *

_

Kazumi smiled at Kiba's mother. "Tsume-san, when do you suppose Kiba-kun will be back?" The Inuzuka clan leader gawked at her and then grinned.

"You're so impatient, Kazumi-chan. I'm sure he'll back as soon as he can so that he can see his lovely bride once again," Tsume responded, placing a hand on Kazumi's hand that was on the kitchen table. The girl was a civilian. She didn't know about the ninja world. Tsume returned to grooming her companion, Kuromaru, with a brush. Kuromaru panted happily.

A knock on the door disturbed their peaceful happiness. "Maybe Kiba-kun is back!" Kazumi exclaimed, getting up from her seat to go open the front door. She opened it to reveal Kiba's teammates. "Hinata-chan, Shino-kun! Are you looking for Kiba? He's on a mission right now." Why would Kiba knock his own front door? Her smile disappeared when she saw the sadness on their faces. "Hinata-chan? Shino-kun? What's wrong?" They looked into her chocolate brown eyes, giving her a look that almost said everything.

"Kazumi-chan," Hinata started. She saw Kiba's mother stand up to see what was wrong with her son's teammates. "Tsume-san."

"What is it? Is Kiba-kun in the hospital? Is he hurt?" Kazumi asked, worried what their answer was. Hinata looked down to the ground. Kazumi saw the tear that dropped from Hinata's face. Kazumi began to shake her head. "No," she whispered. "No! No!" Shino grabbed Kazumi's arms when he saw her knees begin to buckle.

"Shino, what's going on?" Tsume asked, seeing her future daughter-in-law's panic. Shino kneeled to the ground as Kazumi's knees crashed onto the floor, holding her in his arms. "Kazumi!" Hinata looked at Tsume once again. Tsume could see all the tears that Hinata had been shedding.

"Kazumi-chan, Tsume-san. I'm sorry, but…" She didn't want to continue. If she said it, then it would mean it's true. Shino knew Hinata couldn't say it. He knew it was breaking her on the inside to see Kazumi so worried.

"Kiba has been killed in battle." Kazumi looked up at Shino's face, horror written on her face.

"No! You're lying! You're lying! It's not true!" Kazumi screamed, pushing Shino away with the little strength she could muster. "It's not true! He's not! He's not!" She broke into sobs. "He's not dead! He's not dead!" Tsume had already fallen to the floor crying. Her dog instantly went to her side to comfort her. Kuromaru tried to lick away the mother's tears.

"I'm sorry, Kazumi-chan," Hinata whispered. She bent down to comfort the mother of Kiba.

"No! He's not dead! Kiba! Kiba! Kiba!" Kazumi kept calling his name. Shino hugged her as she continued to cry. "Kiba-kun!" The wedding would've been the week after he returned. It was just going to be the Inuzuka clan, Kazumi's family, and Kiba's teammates and team leader, along with Hinata's husband and Kurenai's son. "Kiba!" He never came. He never came to her desperate calls for him.

A man approached the door about to knock, but it was already open. He saw his Aunt and his cousin's fiancé full of grief.

"Tsume-sama, I was wondering if Kiba-sama was here. Akamaru is at the vet. Tsume-sama? What's wrong?" The news then spread across the Inuzuka clan and across Konoha. Everyone could hear Kazumi's scream. Kazumi's fiancé was dead. The civilian girl's ninja fiancé is dead.

"Kiba-kun!"

* * *

A crimson eyed woman opened the door when she heard a knock. She stared at the man. He was holding a little boy's hand. She saw something grim written on the man's face. "Kichirou-kun, why don't you go play with Asuma-kun?" she said to the little three year old.

"Okay!" the little boy said, running inside to go see the four year old who was coloring with crayons. "Hi, Asuma-kun!" He knelt down and started taking a couple crayons to draw on his own paper.

"What are you doing here, Shikamaru? Is Ino alright?" Shikamaru shook his head. She frowned. "What happened to Ino?"

"Ino's in the hospital, Kurenai, but that's not why I'm here." He peered inside, seeing a silver haired man sitting on Kurenai's couch. "I think it's best if you sit down, Kurenai-san."

"What's going on, Shikamaru?" the silver haired man asked, taking Kurenai's hand when she sat down, seeing that she needed comfort for what was about to come.

"You know what mission we went on, right, Kakashi-san?" Shikamaru asked. He looked at his deceased sensei's fiancé.

"Did you get Sakura back?" Shikamaru shook his head at Kakashi's question. Kakashi looked saddened at the news.

"Spit it out, Shikamaru!" Kurenai exclaimed. Shikamaru sat down on the chair by Kurenai's couch. She was worried what the answer could be. She knew it had nothing to do with Ino or Sakura.

Shikamaru was the one who came because he knew Kurenai very well since she was his old sensei's former fiancé. Their children played a lot together. Hinata and Shino didn't come here because they had to tell the other party what had happened.

"I'm sorry, Kurenai-san, but Inuzuka Kiba is dead." Kurenai was shocked. Her eyes stared off into the distance. She couldn't handle another loss. Kakashi squeezed her hand for comfort. He was here because he had decided to visit her and see how she was doing.

"Don't joke like that, Shikamaru," Kurenai whispered in denial.

"He's really dead, Kurenai-san." That was all it took for her to break down. Her former student was gone, dead. She blamed herself for not training her students well enough to prevent this.

"It's not your fault, Kurenai," Kakashi comforted as she began to cry into his chest. He had only come back just yesterday. Her wails deafened their ears. The two little boys came into the room to see why she was crying.

"Kaa-san? What's wrong?" Asuma asked, trying to get his mother to look at him. She grasped the little boy into her arms and began to cry on his shoulder. She needed her son more than anything right now. Kichirou was wondering what all the fuss was about. Shikamaru scooped him up into his arms, standing up from the chair. He knew that Kurenai needed to be alone right now.

"Kakashi, Naruto asked me to tell you to go to his place. He has something he needs to talk to you about," Shikamaru relayed to him. Kakashi nodded. He knew it would be something about Sakura. Kichirou hugged his tou-san. "I'm sorry, Kurenai-san." With that, he walked out the door. Kurenai continued to hug her son, who in turn tried to get his kaa-san to cheer up.

"Go ahead, Kakashi. I need to be alone for now with my Asuma-kun." Kakashi reluctantly nodded and left her alone, going to see what his former student wanted.

"Kaa-san?" How was she going to explain that his "uncle" is gone?

"Asuma-chan, oji-san Kiba has gone up to the sky." She used the term gone up to the sky when her little boy would ever ask about his otou-san.

"Well, we'll see him again someday, right?" Asuma gave her a childish grin.

"Hai, Asuma-chan." She placed a kiss on his forehead and wiped away her tears. She needed to be happy for her son. She gave him a smile and poked him on the nose. Asuma giggled and crawled out of his okaa-san's lap. He went off to play with his toys.

"Kaa-san, be happy!" Asuma told her, while he began to draw again. She smiled for his sake and then looked off to the window.

"Kiba-kun," she whispered, one single tear trickling down her cheek.

* * *

Sakura bit on her lip. "Itachi-san, I can't stay here." He looked at her with an inquisitive look.

"Why not?" He laid down on the bed and stared at the ceiling with his hands under his head.

"Because it's your room!" Sakura squealed. She sighed and placed her hand on the door knob. She turned it but then groaned in frustration. She kicked the door.

"Hn." The Sharingan man sat up and watched her little tantrum.

"I am not staying here with you!" Itachi was standing by her with his hands on her shoulders. She shrugged them off and pushed him away. He stumbled back a little. "Don't touch me!" He saw the tears in her eyes.

"Sakura-san, this is only temporary," he comforted. He knew why she was so reluctant. That order he received just yesterday was what was frightening her. He had violated her personal space again, fueled old memories to flame back up. Itachi hned again when she fumbled with the handle of the door again. He saw the chakra flaring up into her fist. She growled and jumped onto him, her hand glowing blue. She grabbed onto his left shoulder and increased the chakra. He hissed at the pain, grabbing her immediately with his usable arm. He threw her onto the bed. She forced herself to sit up but was pushed down with Itachi straddling her hips. He was so fast.

"Don't!" Sakura screamed, trying to push him away with the chakra in her hands. She was terrified. All she could remember was the pain. He grabbed both of her wrists with one hand and placed it above her head. "Stop!" she cried out, choking on the sobs in her throat. She felt so powerless even with all of her chakra back. He knelt down to her ear.

"I'm not going to do anything if you cooperate." Those words eased her worries a little bit. Control. He had control over her. The night he raped her was the night he had gripped her obedience with blood. It was her fear now, her fear of the pain from four months ago. She never wanted to feel that pain again. "Sakura, will you cooperate?" She licked her lips from the dryness.

"Yes." He let go of her wrists, still straddling her hips. He watched her feel a bit of relief. Itachi didn't like the taste of her fear. He wanted her to be comfortable around him, not flinching every time he got near her.

"I'm sorry, Sakura," Itachi said, rolling off of her. She stared at him, her jade eyes uncertain.

"Are you really sorry?" Sakura whispered, unsure of what was coming out of her mouth. She sat up, making sure not to touch him afraid his presence would burn her.

"Yes." She closed her eyes and placed her hands in her lap. She was so confused by her feelings. She feared this man, yet she felt comfortable around him, felt safe around him. That was the first time she actually questioned his supposed guilt. That one word had sent a wave of relief over her.

She felt something in her stomach. She yelped at the sudden movement. Itachi showed a flash of panic in his crimson eyes. She placed her hand on her stomach, feeling the unknown movement again. She smiled in that second when she realized what it was.

The baby was kicking. She felt the warmth fluttering over her. She giggled when the baby kicked again. Itachi was confused at the emotion she was displaying. She looked at him and smiled, reassuring him that everything was alright.

"Itachi-san, the baby is kicking." The look on his face made her giggle even more. He was surprised. He changed back to his emotionless self when he knew he was caught.

"Hn." She would learn Uchiha-nese one day. She made a move that surprised even herself. The move was spontaneous in this moment, in this moment of her one happiness. She grabbed Itachi's hand since he was sitting next to her. She placed it on her stomach. Itachi flinched for a second but became calm when he felt the bump from her stomach, the kick. For some reason, this little movement had given him a feeling that he hadn't experienced for a long time. Bliss.

"See, she's kicking!" Sakura said, grinning at him. He eyed her.

"It'll be a he." Itachi was stern in his answer.

"No, she will be a she!"

"He."

"She."

"He."

"She."

"He." She began to laugh at their childish little fight. He raised an eyebrow at her, taking his hand back. He placed it back on his lap and watched her fit of giggles.

"What's so laughable?" Itachi asked. She gave him a grin.

"We're bickering like children," she explained. Itachi looked away to deny it. This caused her to giggle again. "You can't deny it."

"Hn." There was a knock on the door. Itachi walked over to the door and opened it. This made her raise in an eyebrow. How come she hadn't been able open it? A chakra seal meant for her only perhaps?

"Lunch, yeah," the person said. He walked in to see Sakura on the bed. He carried two trays of steamed rice and steamed vegetables. He put it down on the desk in the room. He gave her a smirk and turned to Itachi. "Do I get a turn, yeah?" Sakura glared at him.

"Never, Deidara, never." He frowned at Sakura's response, walking over to where she was sitting on the bed. Sakura began to flinch.

"You don't get a say, Kura-chan, yeah," he retorted. He placed his hands on either side of Sakura. "Kura-chan, how about tonight?" She hated the nickname he was giving her.

"Get the hell away from me!" Sakura exclaimed, trying to push him away.

"Be nice, Kura-chan. It'll be much easier that way, yeah." He leaned towards her face despite her attempts to get him to leave her alone.

"Fuck off!" She slapped Deidara across the face. Deidara held the sore cheek that just got hit. She smirked at the red mark now evident. He glared at her and grabbed her shoulders.

"That was rude, Kura-chan." His grip on her shoulders tightened. He pushed her lying down on the bed. Deidara was straddling her hips.

"Please don't! Itachi!" He was thrown off in that second. Itachi had a grip on the blue eyed man's collar and up against a wall.

"Can't you share our little Kura-chan, Itachi, yeah?" Sakura was shaking. She was scared. Itachi looked at her for a moment, seeing her absolutely terrified. Itachi had responded to her call. He had rescued her. She sat up and hugged herself, trying to get rid of the feeling of Deidara that loomed on her. "Sharing is caring, yeah." Itachi forcefully hit Deidara's head into the wall.

"Don't ever touch her again," Itachi warned. He dragged Deidara over to the door and threw him out of the room. He slammed the door on Deidara's face.

"Kura-chan!" Deidara yelled, kicking the door. She flinched but relaxed when his chakra signature left the area near the door. She bit her lip and stared at Itachi's emotionless face. She wondered if she saw the flash of protectiveness on his face. It had gone by so fast.

"Are you alright?" She nodded. Itachi picked up the two trays from the desk and handed one to her. She placed it in her lap, picking up the chopsticks. She paused before digging in.

"Thank you, Itachi." Sakura took a bite of the rice, not waiting for a reply.

"Hn." You're welcome.

The first time she ever understood Uchiha-nese.

* * *

Blue eyes fluttered open, seeing white everywhere. She searched around, wondering where she was. The last thing she remembered was holding Shikamaru's hand while they were waiting for medics to take them to their destination, to take them home. Kiba had died, and they failed to rescue Sakura. She realized why it was so white. This was the hospital. She looked down at her arm and saw the IV. She sat herself up, pushing up with her arms. She moved her legs over the bed or at least tried. Her eyes widened. Why wasn't her legs moving? Why weren't they going anywhere?

"Kaa-san!" a little boy squealed, running into the room. The boy's eyes matched her own, ice blue. "Kaa-san, Tou-san took me to get dango, telling me Kaa-san would be awake when we came back. Tou-san was telling the truth. Kaa-san woke up!" He grinned at his mother, hopping onto the bed. He hugged his mother. She smiled at him, hiding the fear that was flooding over her. Shikamaru walked into the room and rubbed the back of his head.

"He ran off from me. It was too troublesome to try to catch him. He found you anyways," Shikamaru said, trying to make excuses for why the boy came into the room all alone. "Are you alright, Ino?" He saw what she was hiding. She gave him a weak smile.

"Of course I'm all right. Right, Kichirou-kun?" She ruffled the toddler's brown hair. The little child giggled at his mother. He took off the little backpack he was wearing, hopping off the bed. He went over to the couch, pulling out a paper and crayons. He began to hum to himself while he drew, more like scribbled, on the paper. Shikamaru laughed at the child's contentment. He brought a stool over and sat by Ino's side.

"So what's really wrong, Ino?" he asked, tilting his head in a question at her.

"You already know, don't you?" Ino whispered, looking down at her legs. Shikamaru placed a hand on top of hers. They weren't in love, but they were still there for each other as teammates and as parents to the son they shared. She tried to at least wiggle her toes. Nothing. She remembered something slamming into her back when they found Sakura. She wished she had been more alert at that time. Her fears were escalating. Her little boy's humming soothed her a bit.

"Tsunade said…"

"She said what? Tell me, Shikamaru!" Ino hissed, trying not to grab her son's attention. A knock on the hospital door alerted her senses. In walked the Hokage herself.

"Knock knock!" Tsunade exclaimed, seeing the two parents having a quiet conversation. She saw the happy boy sitting on the couch.

"Hokage-sama, why can't I move them? Why can't I feel anything?" The Hokage knew what she was referring to. Ino bit on her lip, not happy with the frown the Hokage showed. "Hokage-sama?" Shikamaru squeezed Ino's hand, telling her everything will be alright. It was a lie. Ino knew it.

"Ino, I'm sorry, but you're spinal cord was severed from a wound in battle." Ino knew what that could do.

"Hokage-sama! Don't let it be true! Please check my legs right now! I think they're moving." Kichirou looked up, hearing the screams from his mother. Tsunade moved the hospital blanket from Ino's legs. She had to at least test Ino before the fear could be confirmed. They weren't moving.

"Wiggle your toes." Ino did so. Nothing.

"They moved!" Ino lied. Her eyes betrayed her into thinking her toes had move at all.

"Try to move your legs." Ino obeyed. Nothing. Nothing was happening. Her toes weren't moving at all. Tsunade placed her over Ino's foot, hitting it lightly. "Did you feel anything?" Ino winced. She didn't. She didn't feel anything.

"No." Tsunade moved onto her calf, hitting it lightly once again. "No." The blonde Hokage tapped Ino's knee. "No." She tapped Ino's thigh. "No." Each time Ino said no, more sadness came. More tears were forming. Shikamaru squeezed her hand once again. He could feel her hand shaking. The chocolate eyed moved to her lower hip, tapping it. "No." The Hokage tapped Ino's upper hip. "No," Ino sobbed. The Hokage tapped just a little bit above, tapping her just blow the belly button. "Yes." The Godaime nodded in reply.

"Well, Tsunade-sama?" He didn't even have to be a medic to know what the diagnosis was.

"You're paralyzed from the hips down. You might be able to move them in the future, but in all likeliness, it's highly unlikely." Ino was shaking uncontrollably. She made a rash move and stole a kunai from Shikamaru's weapon holster on his leg. She brought it down to her thigh and stabbed it before anyone could stop it. "Yamanaka Ino!" the Hokage scolded. Ino saw the blood trickle down her leg. She held the kunai above her thigh again, preparing to pierce herself again. Shikamaru snatched the kunai out of her. She began to cry as the Hokage began to heal the new puncture wound. She kept shaking her head in denial. She felt absolutely nothing when she stabbed herself in the leg. She made a hand sign and focused her chakra.

"Kai!" It didn't go away. "Kai!" she exclaimed, making another hand sign. She kept repeating release, hoping that it would all go away. "Kai!" Shikamaru pulled Ino into his arms once Tsunade was done healing the stab wound. "Kai!" Nothing. It wouldn't disappear. She had to break this genjutsu.

"Ino, it's not a genjutsu." She ignored Shikamaru and tried to release it again. A little boy hopped into the bed and crawled into his two parent's arms, trapping himself into the hug that his father was giving his mother.

"Kai!" She stopped. It was useless. Her sobs echoed down the hallway.

"Kaa-san! Kaa-san! What's wrong?" little Kichirou asked. "Tou-san! What's wrong with Kaa-san?" Shikamaru didn't break the hug, even though his son was trying to break out of it so he could hug his mother all by himself. The Hokage left the room, letting the small family grieve in peace. "Tou-san! Kaa-san!"

* * *

A kunai hit the target dead center. Another one was thrown, knocking the other kunai out of the way to hit as well. _"Sakura's pregnant, Kakashi."_ Another kunai thrown. Anger coursed over him.

"_Pregnant?"_

He retrieved the kunai, trying to calm himself down. When he'd first heard she was taken, all he could think about was all the people he's lost in his entire lifetime. He didn't want to lose another person. He had never displayed so much emotions before, but fear was controlling him. After he lost everyone, he wanted to protect the students he had taken care of for eight years.

"_She was raped by Uchiha Itachi."_ Kakashi stood in front of the KIA memorial, looking at each name. There was a new engraving in the stone. Inuzuka Kiba. He was killed on the Sakura's retrieval mission. His life had gone to waste. _"We failed, Kakashi-sensei! We failed!"_

He remembered how devastated Naruto was about the mission. Naruto had never lost anyone on a mission. He had never lost a team member. Naruto felt like he failed everyone. His failure had cost the village two ninjas. One was dead. The other was forced into retirement. _"The Akatsuki were too powerful. You need a lot of people to take down one Akatsuki member, Naruto. It's not your fault."_ It was his wife's teammate that he lost. Guilt was inevitable.

"_Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke managed to escape from the village."_

"_What?"_

"_I think Sakura-chan put a jutsu on him, so he could get his chance to go after Itachi." _Sakura had let Sasuke get away. Hopefully, that jutsu had been the right decision for her. Hopefully, Sasuke would be able to get Sakura back. Kakashi felt that despite Sasuke's want for revenge, he'll try to save Sakura first.

Kakashi wished it had been him who found Sakura, not Neji. Kakashi wanted to be able to bring her back. He felt Neji wasn't strong enough to save Sakura like he could have. He knew Neji was feeling a lot of guilt for not being able to bring back Sakura. Kakashi wouldn't have failed.

"_I'll get her back, Naruto."_

_

* * *

_

Hmmm, not a lot of Sakura and Itachi in this chapter, but I just wanted to show what happened to everyone. The Sakura and Itachi scene made up for that, though.

Kazumi lost the love of her life. Ino may never be a ninja again. Akamaru lost his leg, no more ninja dog for him. Kiba's gone.

But happy thoughts. Sakura's baby kicked for the first time, and Itachi and Sakura got into a childish fight over the sex of the baby. What do you think the sex will be?

Review pwease. :D The more reviews I get, the faster I update. The reviews are great for motivation. Motivation makes for more chapters. Review!


	9. Freedom

Hmmmm. Thanks for all the reviews! : D It's nice to see so many people reviewing my fanfic. ^_^

I have summer school in college, and I'm doing the impossible. I've been actually doing my home work every single day, which is a feat for me. : D

**Disclaimer:** If I owned Naruto, Itachi would still be alive. Sadly, I don't own it, but I own this plot and Kazumi.

* * *

Chapter 9

* * *

"_Sakura, now that you're finally sixteen I can reveal something to you." Sakura looked up at the red haired man who was sitting next to her, both of them staring out into the Haruno gardens. The Haruno clan wasn't a well dignified clan. They never had much say in anything that was going on Konoha. Even if they weren't the greatest ninjas in the world, they still were a clan made up of thirty people, not like the Hyuuga clan that had over three hundred people or the deceased Uchiha clan with two hundred. Only few Haruno children were born each generation, making the clan very small. Her clan had only two born in the last sixteen years of her life._

"_Hai, Outo-san?" Sakura asked, giving him her sweet smile. The man wore a jounin vest. He blinked his jade eyes at her, putting a hand on top of her head._

"_You're growing up so fast, Sakura-san." The pink haired girl tilted her head in amusement at her father's statement. He was feeling sad that eventually his little girl would be an adult._

"_Is that what you wanted to say, outo-san?" Her okaa-san was in the kitchen making dinner for their family._

"_No." He let out a breath of air. "Do you ever hear a voice in your head?"_

"_Nani?" Was he implying that Sakura was crazy? _

"_I don't mean that you're crazy, Saku-chan!" He chuckled, ruffling her hair. She growled when he let go, fixing her tousled hair back to its fine look. Every Haruno had pink or red hair. Didn't matter what their spouses had, it would always be the pink or red hair. Never had this unspoken rule been broken. Her cousin who was only a few years older has to deal with pink hair which in turn caused a lot of teasing since he was a boy._

"_Then what do you mean?" Sakura pondered. It was true. She did hear a voice in her head, but she tried to block it out all the time._

"_Do you?" She sighed._

"_Hai, outo-san." He smiled at her and patted her knee, telling her it was nothing to worry about._

"_Well, don't fret. There is absolutely nothing wrong with you," he explained. She pursed her lips, trying to understand what he was implying. "The Haruno clan has a special secret." She raised her eyebrows. So there was a cause for the voice? "The Haruno clan has a Kekkai Genkai." Her jade eyes instantly widened, turning her gaze back to their garden. She watched cherry blossoms gently float through the air, softly landing on the dirt. _

"_A Kekkai Genkai, outo-san? How come I'm hearing about this now?" Sakura could smell the rice cooking in the kitchen. Her mother would be calling for them soon to come eat dinner._

"_Because we never registered it with Konoha. It is a secret. Not even your okaa-san knows." Not registered with Konoha? "Registering it could put our clan in danger of being targeted by organizations that would want the Kekkai Genkai." His jade eyes glowed with seriousness at her. Green eyes were another trait that was prominent with the Haruno clan. Sometimes a child would be born with a different color, but it was rare._

"_What is our Kekkai Genkai?" She wondered what it could possibly be. What kind of connection did it have with her inner self?_

"_We have control over what tries to enter our mind. We could never be interrogated with mental threats. The Kekkai Genkai makes it easy to sense most genjutsu." That explained why she was so gifted with genjutsu, why she was able to kick Ino out of her mind in the chunnin exams. "The voice is called our other selves. They empower our will power. It is what gives the Haruno clan our perfect chakra control. It is what gives us our high intelligence." He smiled at her. "Your Kekkai Genkai seems to be the most powerful of the Haruno clan, Saku-chan." She opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. She was shocked. Hers was the most powerful?_

"_What do you mean?" she asked, staring up at the grinning old man._

"_Yours is developing at fast rate. Your cousin doesn't even have the ability control his full chakra or overpower genjutsu yet, and you know he's twenty-three years old. I didn't activate it fully until I was twenty-two. Yours is already fully activated. I'm sure you could even mold that ability to enhance your skills even more. You have the best control I have even seen." Sakura was so confused by all this._

"_But-…"_

"_Saku-chan! Mikio! Dinner!" She almost swore at her mother for not allowing her to further the subject._

"_Remember, it is the Haruno secret." Mikio pressed a finger to his lips to make a point. Not even her own mother knows about this. She was not a true Haruno after all. She was only married to one._

_

* * *

_

Kazumi sat up on the patient table. Her eyes were forcing themselves to stay open at the expression on the Hokage's face. She hated that expression. It was the grim look Hinata and Shino had given her that fateful day when she learned the thing she never wanted to hear come from anyone's mouth.

"Tsunade-sama?" she politely questioned, feeling the tears well up in her eyes. Here she was in the hospital, getting her monthly routine checkup that she needed after the news she learned three months ago.

"_You're pregnant." Kiba and Kazumi's eyes almost bulged out, making a grin appear on both of their faces._

"You've had a miscarriage." Kazumi's eyes widened in shock, tears making their way down her cheek.

"_How did this happen?" Kiba asked, holding his beloved future bride's hand. He gave her a wide grin._

"Why?" Kazumi said, holding her hands on the bump on her stomach. The bump would soon be gone. Her child was dead.

"_Well, you know what happens when a man and a woman come together to express how much they love each other, right?" Tsunade retorted, earning a blush from the expecting parents._

"Stress, I'm afraid." Kazumi's face paled. Kiba's death had taken its toll on her and had taken away the one thing she had left of him.

"_Congratulations!"_

"I'm sorry."

"_So a baby?" Kazumi asked, squeezing her husband's hand with happiness._

"Are you sure?" Kazumi croaked. She wished Tsunade would check, just to make sure.

"_Yes. You're one month along right now."_

"Yes. It seems the fetus died around the time you found out about... him."

"_This is so wonderful. Now our family will be complete!" Kiba exclaimed. Kazumi giggled._

She said nothing. All that came out of her mouth was a sob. She had lost everything in one month. All she had left now was Kiba's best friend. He never left her side, even though he would hobble around since he only had one front leg. He was here even now. He was large enough to lay his head on her lap even though she was up on the patient table.

_The dog in the room barked happily._

Akamaru whimpered at his master's fiancé's discontent. She petted his head in return.

Tsunade put a hand on Kazumi's shoulder. Kazumi couldn't hold it in anymore. She screamed as loud as she could. She was losing everything she loved. Why was this happening to her? She was only a civilian. She didn't deserve so much heart break. Tsunade squeezed her shoulder once, letting Kazumi know that Tsunade would be there for her to cry on. Kazumi opened her mouth again, screaming again. The baby was gone. The man she loved was gone. Now she wanted someone to blame.

* * *

Sakura made a few hand seals, focusing chakra into her eyes. She had nothing to do. She was bored. Itachi would never let her out of the room. She activated her eye jutsu that she had created, enhancing it with the one thing only she had. It was why it was able to deflect any techniques use on her to alter her state of mind. This was her eye jutsu and no one else's.

Itachi came into the room, watching her perform the hand seals. "What are you doing?" She looked at him with her glowing green eyes.

"Practicing since I have nothing else to do." She could see his chakra pathways. She could see every wound he had ever had. He raised an eyebrow at her scanning his body.

"Is it wise to use your jutsu around me? I could learn it if I wanted to." She smirked. There was no way he could copy it even if he knew all the hand seals to it. "Enhance the Sharingan if I wanted to." She scoffed, looking away from him and at the door he had come in from. Sakura could see the chakra flowing through the door, plus the chakra throughout all four walls surrounding her, the reason why she never got out of this room.

"You could try, but you would never be able to," she mocked. Sakura looked at each wall, trying to see if there was any weak points, anywhere for her to put a hole into. She sighed and looked down at the floor. She smiled a little when she saw the blue chakra in her abdomen. The baby kicked at her, obviously feeling the shift in Sakura's chakra pathways. She looked at Itachi, snickering instantly when she saw what he was doing.

Itachi was trying the jutsu. He was going through every hand seal he saw, putting chakra into his eyes, but nothing happened. It didn't activate or enhance his Sharingan. It was absolutely useless to him. "Explain it to me," he muttered, sitting on the chair, turning it to face Sakura who was standing in the middle of the room. She puffed her cheeks in annoyance.

"Why would I want to explain something that could help me escape?" Sakura replied, giving him a cocky grin. Itachi rolled his eyes at her childlike ways. She then gawked her eyes at him. He had displayed emotion! "He feels!" she stated, clasping a hand into her mouth in mock surprise.

"Hn." _I have no emotions._ Well, that's the way she translated it.

"Of course you have emotions. Everyone does." He raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Hn?" She pouted. She couldn't understand that one.

Sakura sat down on the bed, releasing her jutsu. It took only a bit of her chakra. She wasn't using it in battle. "Itachi-san, are you ever going to let me out of this room?"

"You're avoiding my question. Explain your jutsu to me." Sakura frowned, giving a glare at Itachi.

"It's a secret, Itachi-san, only a few people in the world can use it," she said, staring into his piercing red eyes. She shifted uncomfortably under his gaze.

"And those few people are?" he inquired. She chuckled and gave him a smirk.

"Not you." He didn't like this answer. "Now, can I leave the room someday?" Sakura was tired of sleeping in the same bed on Itachi. She remembered the first night they had spent here two weeks ago.

"_Can't you sleep on the floor or something?" Sakura shrieked, annoyed that he had got into the bed with her. He was under the covers just like she was. She saw the famous Uchiha smirk._

"_It's my bed and my room, Sakura." He stressed every syllable of her name. She groaned. "You could sleep on the floor instead if you wanted to."_

"_You would make a pregnant woman sleep on the hard floor!" He shrugged, not even letting the fact that she had even confirmed that she was a pregnant woman affect his emotionless demeanor. "You're cruel, Itachi." She scooted a little bit farther away from him, so she wouldn't have to touch him once. _

"_Hn." Itachi shifted a little bit closer to Sakura. It was his way of torturing her. She had very little space now, and if she wanted to move away from him, she would have to fall off the bed._

"_Bastard," she hissed, closing her eyes as sleep overcame her. He chuckled evilly._

He had done that every single night she slept in his bed, taking up as much space as he could, so that she couldn't move at all. Only a couple times had she woken up to find her arm wrapped around his waist, snuggling into his chest. When she caught herself to do that, she jolted away, wishing to wash away what she had unconsciously done, and the smirk on his face when he knew that she had caught herself doing this made it even worse.

"Only if you tell me why only you and a few people can do the jutsu." Sakura glowered, pressing clenching her fists on the comforters under her. He continued to sit on the chair. He was bribing her. "Tell me and you can have your own room." Get her own room and give away her secret or don't give it away and continue to sleep next to Itachi. Be selfish, or keep her clan safe. Decisions, decisions.

"Only the Haruno clan can do it." She would not go any further. She refused to. She would not talk to him about the fact that the Haruno clan had a Kekkai Genkai.

"Interesting," Itachi said, watching the guilt that was already written on her face, making him think there was even more to it. If she had been in Konoha right now, she would probably be teaching the eye jutsu to her cousin who had finally mastered the Kekkai Genkai after so many long years. She had told him before she left that she would teach it to him.

"Now can I have my own room?" Sakura growled, wanting an answer at the moment. Mood swings. She knew it. It had to be mood swings. Another part of being pregnant. The fact that she already had a temper would probably make it even worse. Her patience with being stuck in this room for two weeks was wearing thin. She didn't even know how she had managed to survive the first three months being cooped up in the dungeons. Well at least she could have explored since she broke down her own door, and she had Neji for a month to keep her occupied.

Now she had absolutely nothing to do. Plus she was stuck with the Uchiha when she didn't even want to be. Even if he was keeping her company some of the time, all he did was either stare at her, read, or work on some scrolls. They never broke into a full conversation. Sakura had had enough. The smirk that popped onto Itachi's face annoyed her to a boiling point. "You were already going to get your own room."

"What?" So she never even had to answer him in the first place. She growled, lunging at the Uchiha who was sitting there calmly without a care in the world. She missed of course. He saw her move before she even made it. She stopped herself before she crashed into the chair and the desk. Sakura glared at Itachi as he clicked his tongue at her rash move. He was now sitting on the bed.

"You should learn to control your emotions, Haruno-san," he replied, mention her surname only to remind her that she had given away a part of her secret.

"Jerk. Jackass. Asshole," she began, listing off every insult she could pull off the top of her head. She hadn't even noticed her standing right in front of her since she was so wrapped up in every bad word she could think of. Only did she stop when he had cupped her face with both of his hands. Her eyes widened. She tried to pull the hands away from her, tugging on each of his wrist.

"You're so intriguing," he whispered to her. He placed his lips on hers. She dropped her arms to her side, shocked by his bold move. He was kissing her! Uchiha Itachi was kissing her. Why? He tried deepening the kiss. It took a moment for reality to set in. She refused to return the kiss. She put her hands on his chests and pushed him away, surprising him a bit when he no longer had contact with her lips.

Sakura glared at him, walking over to the door. "Please take me to my room, Uchiha-san," she hissed, her jade eyes showing her discontentment with the situation. Itachi snorted.

"Alright, Haruno-san." Such formalities. What happened to first names? Itachi opened the door for her, allowing her to walk out. She noticed the chakra barrier had been dropped. Should she run? Absolutely not. She had no idea who was here, and she knew that the moment she showed any interest in escaping Itachi would put her back in his room. Itachi motioned Sakura to follow him. She complied, making light footsteps as he led her to a door. The door was as ordinary as any other door in the hallway. He opened it for her. This man acted liked nothing happened between them just moments ago. She almost felt like it had just been a dream.

She set foot into the room and noticed it was just like Itachi's. A private bathroom door was in the corner. A desk rested against one of the walls. The bed was a simple blue comforter and white sheets. It was a nice room for a prisoner, compared to her last room.

"Arigatou, Itachi-san," she meekly said, not looking at him for fear that everything would fade away.

"Hn." She stepped into the room, eyeing much brighter it was than her old dungeon room had been. Itachi's room had been the same as her new one, but it was decorated with black color. This room was bamboo floors and white walls. It was a bit soothing to her. "I'm assuming you will not want to be cooped up in the same place forever?" Itachi called. She turned around to look at him and nodded reluctantly. By place he meant room. She was not leaving this place as long as she was still a prisoner to Akatsuki. "Come." It was only one word, but it commanded her to follow. He was already walking down the hallway with the door to her room open.

He showed her where the kitchen was and where the lounge was. The kitchen was plain and hardly ever seemed to be used. She supposed that most of the time Akatsuki brought in takeout, though not very often. They seemed to buy prepared food in large amounts to last them for two weeks at least. A table that sat ten sat on one side of the kitchen. The lounge contained a few chairs and couches. She found Kisame there, drinking Sake.

Where the other members were was not known to her. She supposed that all the members had ways of entertaining themselves hidden in their own rooms. He specifically said that she was not to enter any room except for her own and his. Treading on another Akatsuki's space could mean danger if she was not careful. Kisame probably wouldn't mind, but that didn't say much for the others.

"Itachi, do we have tea?" Sakura asked, knowing the tour would not go anywhere else. Tea would calm her nerves. She saw the front door but already sensed the chakra placed on it. If she touched that door, everyone in the base would know, and she didn't know what else the door would probably do. Most likely it would try to paralyze her before she could try to even turn the handle. Itachi nodded.

"What kind of tea would you like?" Itachi led her back into the kitchen. He began to boil a kettle of water on the stove. The flames under the kettle danced as it heated up the water. She had only asked if they had tea, not for him to prepare her any.

"You don't have to make me any, Itachi-san," Sakura said. Itachi smirked.

"I was making some for myself, Sakura-san. It would only be convenient if you would like some as well." His answer was full of smugness, making her scoff.

"In that case, I would like some rose tea."

"Hn." It only took him a few minutes before he poured the boiling water into two cups. He pulled out two tea bags from the cupboard, dipping one each into the two cups. She noticed his was a lemongrass tea. Once both tea bags had soaked long enough, Itachi discarded the packages, handing the cup of Sakura's tea to her. "You can go drink it in your room if you would like." There was a hidden message behind it. You _must_ go to your room. It seemed like a suggestion, but she knew it was an order.

"Hai, Itachi-san." She walked back to her room with the steaming cup of tea in her fragile hands. The heat of it did not burn her. It was only warm. Sakura heard the light footsteps behind her. Itachi was following her. To make sure she didn't make any attempts at the front door? Surely he knew that she wasn't stupid enough to try. So why was he following her? Once she stepped into her room, she knew that he was following her, not simply just following because he was going back to his room. Itachi was now in _her _room. He set his cup of tea down on the desk for a second, reaching a hand into his Akatsuki cloak. "What?" She quietly gasped at what he pulled out of his cloak. A book.

The book was placed down on the desk. Without a word, Itachi made his way to the door with his tea. "I-Itachi." He paused. This small gesture meant so much to her. A small rattle of a cup was heard as she placed her tea onto her desk. She fingered the binding of the book, scanning over the cover. "T-Thank you." She was never one to stutter, but his action had so greatly confused her. It was his gift to her. She knew Akatsuki would never obligate him to give her whatever she desired. In all her boredom the last two weeks, she wanted something to do. Itachi had noticed it. He went out of his way to get her a gift that would keep her entertained for a long while. "Thank you so much, Itachi."

"Hn." _You're welcome._ He was gone, her bedroom door closed. She smiled, looking down at the cover of the book again.

"The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi by Jiraiya," she read. She had never known Jiraiya could write a book that wasn't perverted, but as soon as she began to read it, she was proved wrong. It brought tears to her eyes. It was very much appreciated gift, a gift that she would cherish. The story of Naruto and the evil ninja.

* * *

The Kazekage peered at the four before him. "Come on, Kazekaga-sama! I don't want to do any more D missions!" a purple haired gennin said, causing his jounin sensei to slap his own forehead. "I want to do an S rank mission!"

"Baka Osamu-kun!" a red haired gennin screamed, punching him on top of the head. "I apologize for my idiotic buffoon of a teammate, Gaara-sama!" She bowed to him.

"I accept your apology, Aki-chan," the Kazekage replied. The elders sitting next to him were annoyed at the gennin before them.

"I think they can do a simple C mission for now, Kazekage-sama," the jounin announced, making everyone gawk at him like he was crazy.

"Are you sure, Tamotsu-san?" The jounin nodded. Aki caught Osamu grinning like mad. Their first C rank mission! "Then you can go on a simple exploring mission. There has been mysterious activity in the desert surrounding a certain spot. Our Intel has deemed it harmless enough for a jounin sensei team to do it. You will only have to gather information. Do not engage in any battles unless necessary. All information pertaining to this mission is within this scroll. Takeshi, Aki, Osamu, Tamotsu, do you accept this mission?"

"Hai!" all four exclaimed. A blue haired boy was emotionless as ever.

"Aren't you excited, Takeshi-kun?" Aki said, take a flirtatious pose. The said boy rolled his brown eyes.

"One C mission because of the baka. I think it'll be fine," Takeshi answered, staring into Aki's emerald eyes. Tamotsu took the scroll from the Kazekage, bowing in respect.

"We will not fail." Tamotsu turned to his three gennin students. "We'll meet at the gate in two hours."

"Hai, Tamotsu-sensei!" All four members disappeared from the room.

"Are you sure, Gaara-kun?" A woman sitting next to him frowned.

"I wouldn't have sent their team if I wasn't sure, Temari," Gaara replied, moving onto the next team in the room. It was just an ordinary day for the sand village. They never would have expected that the team they just sent out might never come back.

* * *

Sasuke sat in front of a woman who wore glasses. She pushed them up the bridge of her nose. "I need your help." The woman pouted. Of course that was all he was here for. He was never going to be here for her only.

"Why don't you just get Suigetsu or Juugo? I'm sure they're perfectly capable of helping you." She was annoyed. Sasuke would never want her for anything but her powers. Sasuke shook his head.

"Suigetsu is too happy being on Konoha ANBU, and Juugo's happy now that he's got his life under control. He only wants to continue his life as a civilian in Konoha," Sasuke explained.

"So you come to me? The only one who didn't defect to Konoha. Weren't you in prison?" The woman pushed back her red hair.

"I was, but then the Hokage let me out."

"She let you leave Konoha?"

"No, I escaped thanks to Sakura." The woman tensed when she heard the woman's name. It was taboo around her. The name of the woman who took her Sasuke away from her and back to Konoha. Suigetsu and Juugo had followed them happily after hearing that Sakura would talk to the Hokage about letting them get in without having to go to prison. She didn't save Sasuke from prison though. "Karin, you're the only one who'd be able to do the task anyway." This made the woman a little bit happier. Sasuke only needed her. She took a sip of sake.

"And what exactly are you recruiting me to do?" Karin asked, eyeing Sasuke's demeanor. He seemed… _worried._ It wasn't something she'd ever seen before.

"I need to find Sakura." The sake cup in Karin's hand broke as she squeezed it.

"And why do I have to find that little home wrecker?" she hissed. She was _very_ annoyed by all of it. Sasuke glared at her little insult. He knew how much Karin disliked Sakura.

"She was kidnapped by my brother," he answered, catching Karin's eyes. "He raped her." Karin scoffed.

"Are you sure that he raped her? She could've been the one who wanted it. She is a whore enough!" Sasuke was already across the table when she said the word whore. His hands clasped around her neck, squeezing the breath out of her.

"Do not say thing you don't know anything at all about! Sakura is not a whore! She would never willingly betray me for _him_!" The threat in his tone made her quiver all over.

"I-I'm s-sorry, Sasuke-kun!" Karin whimpered. His Sharingan was turned on. The dangerous aura around him had scared her beyond belief.

"I need to find her, and I need to make my brother pay for what he did!" Sasuke exclaimed. He released her, allowing her to drop to the floor. The store owners and customers ignored them completely, knowing it would be stupid to get into their business. "Are you or are you not going to help me?" Karin bit on her lip, standing back up.

"Fine, I'll help you, but I expect some kind of _payment_, Sasuke-kun," Karin replied, knowing exactly what kind she wanted. Sasuke grunted in return. He would have to deal with negotiations later.

"Whatever." Sasuke paid for the meal and sake both had consumed and dragged her out of the restaurant. He pulled a shirt out of his bag. "This is Sakura's."

"Where did you get her shirt?" Karin asked, peeved that he even had it.

"I took it from her apartment when I left Konoha." He wouldn't say anymore. Karin wanted to rip the shirt in half. He handed it over to her but kept a tight grip on it. He knew how much Karin hated Sakura right now. He wasn't going to let her to destroy the last thing he had of Sakura. "Just get a sense of her chakra." Karin nodded, concentrating on the essence of chakra in the shirt.

"I got it." He was quick to take the shirt back. He didn't want anyone else to touch it, or else the smell will fade, the smell of cherry blossom.

* * *

A month went by. Every day she would eat in the kitchen, sometimes with Itachi and Kisame, sometimes with just Kisame, sometimes with Itachi, sometimes she would eat alone. Even when everyone left the base, she never tried to leave. She knew it was foolish. She had to protect herself for her child. Now she was five and a half months pregnant. She didn't know what they would do to her if she tried to escape again. She no longer could hide her pregnancy. Itachi presented her with stretch black pants and a large black t-shirt to fit her enlarging stomach.

Every day she would pour herself into the book at least six hours a day. She had already read it twenty times, but she couldn't stop reading it. She loved the Naruto in the book. It kept her close to the Naruto she knew. It fueled her memory of him, brought back all the old memories. It was her one freedom. Her one salvation. Her one way of seeing his face again, seeing the face of her closest friend. It brought her closer to Konoha.

She sighed, pressing a hand on her stomach as the baby inside kicked her. Sakura was alone now. Everyone seemed to be gone. She walked into the kitchen, looking for something to suit her cravings. She opened the refrigerator, finding a couple of Chinese takeout boxes inside. She began to hum to herself while she dug into one. She didn't bother to heat it up. She just wanted to eat it cold. She strolled into the lounge, laying herself down on one of the couches. Sakura stared off a bit at the door, wondering if it would ever move. She relaxed.

No one would be coming for a while. Itachi and Kisame were either out patrolling or on a mission. She only saw Deidara and Tobi every once in a while, more so Deidara then Tobi. Itachi never left Deidara and Sakura in the same room alone. He was always there as a warning to Deidara. Tobi seemed to have his own business to take care of than have light conversation with anyone. She felt like taking a nap there, not caring who would find her dozing off.

A loud bang came when the door slammed open. She yelped immediately, scared out of her small catnap. "Look what we found!" She recognized the voice.

"I'm trying to sleep, Kisame!" she yelled. She peered at the people walking into the room. A couple of them were pushed into the room.

"Please let us go!" a young girl cried. Sakura saw the insignia on her forehead. The girl was from sand.

"I'm sorry, Aki-chan, but I don't think we'll be going anywhere." Wise words came from the one adult man with the group of sand nins. It was highly likely that they would not live to set a foot outside the base. A purple haired boy began to cry. Itachi followed behind the group with Kisame following behind him. A blue haired boy made no emotions at all, but the fear was written in his eyes. All four sand nin had their hands tied behind their back.

"Itachi! What are you doing?" Sakura exclaimed, standing up when he looked at her.

"Sakura, go to your room," Itachi commanded. They had no dungeon here, no place to store them to interrogate them. Sakura shook her head, seeing the fear in all the sand ninja's eyes.

"Let them go!" Sakura piped up. The sand jounin looked at her.

"Haruno Sakura?" the sand jounin asked. Sakura nodded. "Why are you with Akatsuki?" Sakura raised an eyebrow. He was assuming things about her.

"I was kidnapped six months ago!" Five and a half months, but she felt like rounding up the number. She knew that Gaara would probably not tell lower ranking Sand Nin about Konoha's Head Doctor going missing. Another ninja from a different village was probably not on their priority list.

"Sakura, go to your room," Itachi growled, stepping towards her. He did not want her to see the violence that would happen soon.

"No, Itachi! Let them go!" Sakura answered back, not caring how menacing he looked. She knew what the two Akatsuki were going to do with them. He pinned her down onto the couch. One hand held him up on the back of the couch. The other was placed on the arm rest. His arm on the arm rest shifted. She began to panic when felt a kunai placed against her abdomen.

"Kisame, kill them." Her eyes widened.

"No!" She wanted to thrash around and push Itachi off of her, but the kunai was so dangerously pressed to her growing belly. She began to cry when she heard the first scream. "Stop it!" She couldn't see anything but Itachi's chest.

"Osamu-kun!" the only girl cried out. Sakura could hear the girl's sobs. This is the Akatsuki. They had no mercy. They would go far enough to even kill a couple of thirteen year olds. Sakura put a hand around the wrist that held the kunai. She tried to budge it, tried to move it for at least a second so she could get free. Another scream came from the other boy. "Takeshi-kun!"

"Why are you here?" Kisame asked the only two remaining members. The red haired girl quivered under his gaze. His sword was pointed at her. The jounin sensei surely would not let any harm come to his last student. "Again, why are you here?" Itachi didn't move at all, even with Sakura's hand around his wrist. She didn't have the strength to move the hand. All the strength was going to protecting the child she had within her.

"We were sent on a simple exploration mission. We must report anything we see." The jounin sensei hoped that answer would satisfy the blue shark, enough to let Aki go.

"Tamotsu-sensei," Aki whispered, scared shitless at what would likely happen next.

"Sadly, now that you've seen our little prisoner and that you've seen us, we can't let you live," Kisame answered. Sakura felt adrenaline course through her in that moment. She mustered as much chakra she could, pushing away Itachi's hand and rolling out from under him. She stumbled up, not letting Itachi catch her. There was only one thing she could do for the two sand nin. Only one thing. She jumped over the two bodies of the dead sand nin, running towards the girl called Aki. She wouldn't be able to save the jounin, but she'd at least save the little girl.

Kisame's sword was falling down at a fast pace, falling towards the frozen Aki. Sakura made a few hand signs. This is Sakura's one chance for freedom. She jumped through the air at the little girl. The jounin wanted to move, but he felt too powerless to help anyone. Sakura conjured chakra into her hand. She knew how much chakra this would toll on her, but she had to save Aki.

Both of her hands touched Aki's arm.

* * *

OMG What's gonna happen? Let me know how you like this chapter. What does Sakura have up her sleeve that will save the little sand nin? And poor Kazumi had a miscarriage. Sasuke recruits Karin. And some ItaSaku moments!

So what's your opinion on all this? I enjoy reading all the lengthy reviews that comment on some things.

Review pwease! And I'll post on time next time! Reviews make an author a happy author!


	10. Dangerous

Sorry for taking so long to update. I've been so writer blocked for this particular story. Plus I've been working on other future stories, which I plan to finish before posting them on fanfiction, so that I don't ever delay. Reading all your reviews really helped me get back into writing some more for this fic, so this is for all you reviewers.

Disclaimer: I wish Naruto was mine, but it isn't. If it was, I would be stinking rich.

* * *

Chapter 10

* * *

"_Sakura, when you get back, I have a surprise for you," the blonde Hokage called. Sakura looked at her and raised a pink eyebrow. Her sensei hardly ever had any surprises left._

"_Shisou, you know I hate surprises. Tell me now," Sakura whined. Her ANBU teammates had already left to get packed. They had their mission. They were to head to Sand and meet up with her former sensei's injured team. She was the medic nin. It was important for her to get there quickly. Her two teammates had orders to ensure her safety and guard her until she is finished healing the ANBU team. Her monkey mask rested on top of her head. Tsunade chuckled, placing her hands on her desk while standing up._

"_But that's why it's a surprise. You can't just ruin it." Sakura bit her lip. Surprises weren't her favorite thing in the world. She liked to know about the situation beforehand._

"_Please, Tsunade-shisou?" She pouted, trying to coax her sensei into giving her a hint. Tsunade wasn't persuaded. Her little student's begging methods no longer worked on her. "It'll be a distraction to my mission if I don't know." Tsunade almost chuckled at Sakura's reasoning. It would definitely distract her if she knew. Sakura's emerald eyed shined when Tsunade groaned. She was surrendering already._

"_Fine, you evil apprentice of mine," Tsunade retorted. Sakura stuck her tongue out with glee. "I'm promoting you to ANBU captain when you get back." Those emerald eyes of hers were bulging out of her head. "The success rate of all your ANBU missions so far is outstanding. I have already told your captain about this, and he agrees that you should get this. He and Naruto already have the rank of ANBU captain, but we think you deserve it as well. Squad Eight will separate after this mission." Sakura nodded in understanding. Three ANBU captains on one team wasn't very good for the village. Three captains meant more teams._

"_Are you sure, Tsunade-sama?" the cherry blossom questioned, apprehensive about the whole situation. Tsunade grinned widely at her. Her student was stunned beyond belief._

"_Of course I'm sure. I'll have the paperwork ready when you get back." Sakura reluctantly agreed. "Now, go get ready, and get this mission done fast. Fox-chan, Frog, and Wolf are all in a comatose state right now. They need you." Sakura bowed and turned to leave the room. "Oh, and Sakura," she looked over her shoulder, "be safe."_

_

* * *

_

"Kazekage-sama!" a sweet voice called. The brunette walked in with a stack of papers. The Kazekage looked up from a mission report. An ANBU was cautious about who it was but he relaxed when he realized it was just the Kazekage's girlfriend. She placed the stack on his large desk. "The academy needs you to sign these. They're the approval form for who passed the test and became gennin." Gaara accepted the papers.

"Hai hai, Matsuri-chan," Gaara replied, He moved them to his stack of papers that needed to be signed. Matsuri beamed at him and sat in one of the large chairs in front of his desk. She threw her feet up and rested them on his desk. He rolled his eyes at how relaxed she could be in his presence. No one but her would rest their feet on his desk. She was the only one who could get away with it.

"Ne ne, Gaara-chan." He cringed at her nickname. He doesn't mind it, but he's in a room full of other ninja. He could hear his own sister snickering on the couch while she reviewed the new missions. "Are we going to eat dinner together tonight?"

"I suppose," he muttered while signing off the mission report. He pulled another sheet off the stack, skimming over it. Just another mission report. "How about we eat at the tea house?" Matsuri inhaled a breath.

"That would be wonderful, Gaara-chan!" Matsuri loved the tea house. It was her favorite place to eat. She always asked Gaara to take her, but he rarely does. He's always too busy. She hopped out of her chair and rounded the desk, hugging her lover tightly. He didn't bother to hug back. It wasn't who he was, and she knew that. She kissed him on the cheek and let go. Matsuri caught the other ANBU staring. She glared at them.

The ninja in the room pulled out their weapons fast when smoke filled the air. A large thump was heard on Gaara's desk. Kunai and shuriken flew through the air at the thump. The smoke cleared, and a sand wall was revealed to be blocking the desk from the weapons. All the weapons dropped to the floor when the wall released. For some reason Gaara had stopped the attack on the intruder. He had seen who it was before the weapons launched.

"Aki-chan?" Matsuri whispered, looking at the person on the desk. The red haired girl was lying on her back on the grand desk. The little girl blinked her emerald eyes. Matsuri could see the tears on her face. The girl sat up wearily, looking at her surroundings. She then looked right and saw her Kazekage, the leader of her village.

Aki took a moment to let it all sink in, recollecting her memories. The other Sand nins stared at her. Aki scrambled to her feet and jumped on Gaara, wrapped her arms around him. The Sand nin pulled out their weapons again but stopped when they heard girl sob. Gaara realized little Aki-chan was crying and patted her on the head.

"Aki-chan, what happened?" the Kazekage asked. He heard her say something in his shirt. "Aki-chan, you can cry later. Tell me what happened." Aki pulled back from his chest, sitting on his lap. She looked at Gaara's green eyes. They reminded her of the woman who saved her. Aki hiccupped and sniffled.

"Osamu-kun and Takeshi-kun are dead." Matsuri's chocolate eyes widened.

"What do you mean, Aki-chan?" Matsuri asked. Gaara saw a couple of the other nins watching the small girl.

"Some men with black cloaks and red clouds killed them," Aki replied, causing gasps throughout the room. "Tamotsu-sensei is still back there. I don't know if he's still alive."

"Aki-chan, how did you use a teleportation jutsu?" Gaara questioned, remaining calm. A Kage always has to let people know that everything will be okay.

"I-I didn't. Some pink haired woman saved me. We were investigating the base, but then we got caught by the red cloud men. They took us into the base. That's where I met the pink haired woman. She saved me from the big man's sword," Aki said, wanting to cry more than ever now. She had never done a mission report, and she never thought she would have to do one now, not now when her whole team was dead. Did that poor pink haired woman get hurt? "I think Tamotsu-sensei called her Haruno Sakura." Gaara glanced at his sister when he heard that name.

"Send word to Konoha that we found Sakura's location," Gaara ordered. Temari quickly nodded, pulling out a blank scroll and beginning to write on it. He looked into the little girl's tear filled eyes. "You can cry now, Aki-chan." Her wails began to echo throughout the room as she placed her head back onto Gaara's chest, wrapping her arms around his neck. She was so young to see death, too young to see her own teammates die.

_Tsunade,_

_Akatsuki spotted with Haruno Sakura in sector 12B of Wind Country. They most likely have evacuated the base now. Gennin team was sent to investigate that base, but only one came back. _

_-Suna_

_

* * *

_

Sakura watched the blood roll down her arms. Kisame's sword had managed to slice her right hand's palm open. She could hear the growl in Kisame's throat, wanting to attack her for what she's done. She took a deep breath. If she had tripped, she would've been dead, killed by the blade. "You little bitch!" Kisame snapped. Sakura screamed when someone pulled back on her long locks of pink hair. Her head was titled back

"Haruno-san!" the last remaining Sand nin called. He yelled out when Kisame kicked him into a wall. Blood trickled from his mouth. He was thankful now for the pink haired girl. He was thankful that she had saved his young student from death. He had seen the seals she had made before Aki disappeared. It was an S-class transportation jutsu.

"That was not a wise move, _Sakura_," a voice hissed into her ear. Sakura felt a shiver run up her spine. She could feel the dark aura coming from the man pulling her hair. His other hand grabbed her right wrist, squeezing tight onto it, making more blood pour from the cut on her hand. She whimpered in pain. She had no chakra left to fight back. That jutsu had sapped away every last bit of her chakra. It would take her days to finally recover at least a little bit of her chakra.

She just hoped that little girl was safe now. She had sent the gennin to the one place she could think of, to the Kazekage's office. It was her best strategic move.

"Haruno, thank you," the jounin sensei coughed out. The shark man roared and picked up his sword. He was finished with the sand nins. They had no more business left with the last man. Sakura tried to pull away from her captor's grip.

"Let go, Itachi." Asking him to do something right now was definitely out of the question.

"Kill him and go get packed," Itachi ordered to his blue skinned partner. Itachi tugged on his hold of her and faced her towards the long hallway. "Walk." Sakura had no energy left to resist. She could only feel pain from her throbbing scalp and bleeding hand. She complied. Once they were out of the room, she heard the jounin sensei scream out in pain. He was dead now. Itachi kicked Sakura's door open and threw her in the room. She yelped as her back fell upon the bed. "Where the hell did you send that girl?" He stood over her as she weakly tried to sit up.

"Where you won't get her," Sakura answered back, glaring at him. He raised his hand. She gasped when her face turned to her left side. She could feel her cheek throbbing. He had backhanded her face.

"Hn." _You deserve it. _ He felt no remorse at all for hitting her. He could sense that she had no chakra left. None to heal any wounds. She would feel the pain from the bruise on her cheek. She would feel the stinging cut on her hand. Sakura brought up her left hand and touched her right cheek. She was stunned that he had stricken her. "You're a fool." Sakura bit her lip, forcing away the tears that threatened to pour from her jade eyes.

The cruel bastard who had gotten her pregnant was a cruel bastard. She gasped and touched the bump on her stomach, wondering if the child was okay. He had thrown her after all, and she had no chakra to protect it. The impact could've killed it. She felt relief when she felt the baby kicked her, sensing the mother's stress. Itachi was watching her movements, perplexed about why she cared so much about that child's safety.

"What now, Itachi?" Sakura meekly whispered, not looking at him. She had heard his words to Kisame. They were going to leave. Her reckless actions had cost them the base. They had to move quickly before any opposing nin found them.

"Hn." He grabbed her backpack from the floor, shoving her book into it. He opened the dresser in the corner, grabbing some of her clothing and stuffing them into the bag as well. She watched him with curious eyes. He wasn't making her do the work. Why?

"Nani? Itachi, I could do that," she reasoned. He glared at her with his Sharingan eyes. He didn't trust her to do it. She would prolong their time here if she did it. She would waste precious time. He kneeled down in front of her sitting form on the bed, opening up a small zipper on the side. Was he going to stuff her in there to? She's kind of too big to fit in there. He reached into it, pulling something out. She blinked before she recognized it. Bandages?

He grabbed her right wrist, pulling her hand towards him. She connected the dots already. He was going to wrap the cut on her hand, the cut she got from Kisame's sword. He hadn't meant to harm her, but she had gotten in the way. Sakura was too stubborn to let another child die after witnessing Aki's screaming for her own teammates. She wondered now where they would possibly be going, now that their location had been revealed because of Sakura's stubbornness.

Sakura watched Itachi wrap her hand with white bandaging, tearing it from the roll and tying it into a knot on the back of her hand. She blinked when he put the bandaging away. "Sakura."

"Hai?" she replied, looking into his crimson eyes. She forced back the reminder those eyes gave her.

"Don't do anything rash during the journey. It would not help you at all." Sakura opened her mouth to reply but stopped when Itachi stood up. She looked back at her bandaged hand. Her little stunt had done more than just cause them to move, but it also placed her in danger. Kisame had once explained to her a week ago that the Akatsuki leader would not stand anymore of her little stunts. It cost him a base, and this one had cost him another one. The leader was regretting kidnapping her, and because she had learned so much about Akatsuki, he was prepared to kill her, regardless if she was pregnant.

Sakura forced herself to stand up. It was so much harder to stand up now. Her lower back was aching from carrying the child within her. She wished she could make Itachi go through hell for all the suffering he's caused her. She stiffened when Itachi put the Akatsuki cloak on her. Of course she would have to wear it again even if it did make them stick out like a sore thumb. It was also to keep her warm on their impending journey.

If she remembered correctly, it should now be mid-November. So many birthdays have passed. Ino's little boy, along with Kurenari-sensei's son would now both be another year older. Kichirou is now four, and Asuma is five. She cursed Itachi again for making her godson's fourth birthday. The majority of her friends have probably reached her age now.

With it being this late in the year, it would be freezing wherever they were going. She dreaded if they would ever have to face the winter snow. The cloak was a necessity for the freezing winds.

She huffed, following Itachi out of the room. He hadn't handed her the bag. Apparently he was going to be kind and not make the pregnant woman to strenuous work… hopefully. Somehow he had disappeared in a blink of an eye. She looked around wearily, wondering where he had possibly gone. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw him exit his own bedroom. He was taking care of any of his important things, not that there really was anything important. Everything here at this base was considered disposable apparently. Kisame had explained that to her as well. All bases were considered unimportant, except for the main base, which he wouldn't tell her where it was located. She wasn't Akatsuki after all, but that could change if she agreed.

But of course she refused like always. She would never betray her village willingly. She was a loyal kounichi no matter what was thrown at her. All they had gotten out of kidnapping and raping her so far was some medical help, unwilling medical help. She hated that she had to heal Konan and Kisame. Even though, technically, both situations were her fault somehow. Both had been because one of her best friends had been captured and escaped.

Judging from the last time the Akatsuki had battled with the Leaf Nins, apparently Neji had gotten home safely. She was glad, but it saddened her completely when she thought of the results of that last battle. Ino was severely injured, Akamaru was missing a leg, and Kiba was dead. When she had finally gotten into her own room with no one around her, she cried. She cried for hours, not getting a single wink of sleep that night. She hadn't cried since then.

It was because of her that they got hurt, because they were trying to save her, and yet here she was with Akatsuki. Kiba's death, Akamaru's loss of a leg, and Ino's possible paralyzed legs had all gone in vain. She hadn't been saved. She was still in their clutches, forced to be near them almost every single days, except for the days when they went on missions and patrolling. She used that alone time wisely to revel on all that had happened.

She wondered how Naruto was doing. She wondered how Kakashi was doing. She wondered how Sai was doing. She wondered how Sasuke was doing. She had yet to see her jounin sensei, and she highly doubted she would see Sasuke anytime soon. Team Seven. She would think of Team Seven every day. It was something to get her through the day, thoughts of what her precious team could possibly be doing at a time like this. Naruto was probably fussing, causing his wife stress. Kakashi would be taking his role of calming down his blonde student while hiding his own worry. Sai probably didn't ponder on it much since he was basically emotionless in all aspects. And Sasuke…

How was Sasuke going to react? Would they even tell him? She had used her own special jutsu on Sasuke's chakra seal. A jutsu she created from her Kekkai Genkai. He probably didn't care at all that the pink haired woman was gone, even if she was the only one who visited him weekly. All he would care about would be getting Itachi.

She wondered if she could use her Kekkai Genkai against the chakra seal that Itachi would place on her at times. She knew it wouldn't work. Her Kekkai Genkai only works when she has chakra. Those time when Itachi had actually used his genjutsu on her was when she had no access to her chakra or very little chakra. She wondered now what would happen if he tried using Tsukiyomi on her. For some reason she knew. She knew that she could block his special genjutsu. She stilled when she remembered the last time she had been under the effects of the Tsukiyomi, the time she was captured.

Everyone had been there. Every person who was important to her was there. They all betrayed her in their own special. It took her everything not to succumb to the genjutsu and believe that all of it is real. It wasn't real. Naruto using his fox on her wasn't real. Kakashi's Chidori running through her wasn't real. Hinata and Neji's gentle fist wasn't real. None of it was real, but all of it had hurt so much.

The worst part was when Sasuke told her that he would never love her. In real life, she would've accepted this. She hadn't loved him either. But in the Tsukiyomi, it hurt her so much. In the Tsukiyomi, Itachi purposefully revived that love for Sasuke and then crushed her heart. She shuddered to think of what happened when she finally got free of the genjutsu and woke up. That time… That horrible time of being under his power.

She grew weak at the knees suddenly, collapsing down onto her butt. Itachi stopped in his walking towards the front door. He turned to her, seeing her shaking completely. Chakra exhaustion had finally gotten to her. Teleporting the gennin kounichi had taken all of her energy. He had been surprised it took her this long to finally give into the effects of that particular jutsu.

He knew the jutsu she used. It was only taught to ANBU captains, so how had she learned it? He wasn't aware that she had obtained ANBU captain status, although he knew of her success as an ANBU. She was already in the bingo books of other countries. He had seen the price of her head in Kisame's bingo book once. It was even higher than his. Most countries wanted her alive. The reward was much higher if she was captured alive and brought to them. It was all because of her skill as a medic nin. It was also because of her skills as a shinobi, the skills that had almost never failed her. That was why Akatsuki had wanted her. She would be highly useful to the organization.

Sakura was the one who always learned the most important things. She knew everything that went on in Konoha. She learned even the most classified data, but one thing about this perplexed a couple of Shinobi nations who had actually managed to kidnap her. Yes, a couple countries before the Akatsuki had captured her stupidly, not realizing they were harming themselves doing so. Both of those countries lost a hundred ninja each because of how skilled the kounichi is.

The one thing that had everyone wondering is why no one had been able to get inside her pretty little head. The few people had actually captured her before tried to interrogate her but instantly failed. Simply put, all jutsu used in trying to extract information from her failed. Many assumed that she possibly had a seal placed on her that would keep her from revealing anything, but the most intellectual people knew. There was no way a seal would be able to block so many jutsus. There was something about her that wasn't just a seal. There was more to her than just an S-rank seal meant to block everyone from finding out what she knew. No S-rank jutsu existed on her. She had something else.

Now he believed it had something to do with the fact that she could only use the eye jutsu he had seen her use a few times. He remembered her saying that only Harunos could do it. Did her not being able to be interrogated have anything to do with their bloodline? Were they hiding something from the world?

He remembered the Haruno clan in Konoha. They were a quiet clan. They had some social influence over politics, but their clan was small. It was notable that all Haruno members seemed to have exactly the same thing as her. They were impossible to persuade through jutsu. Rumors had sparked up when he was back in Konoha that the Haruno clan has been hiding something from the world. He had heard that genjutsu almost never worked on a Haruno, and almost all of them had Sakura's perfect chakra control. Plus the clan was made up of highly intelligent people.

All of these skills of hers definitely would get her promoted to ANBU captain soon, but it made him wonder. How had she gotten her hand on that particular transportation jutsu? He remembered the split second he had been stunned that Aki had disappeared so quickly. For Sakura to be able to use such a high ranked jutsu showed that it was one of the reasons why Akatsuki wanted her.

He kept his face composed and emotionless, picking her up bridal style. She squealed in protest, not wanting his help at all. "Itachi! Put me down!" Sakura screamed, weakly hitting him on the chest. But then again, she was the Hokage's apprentice. She would have learned many jutsu from the woman, even jutsus that were meant for people who were above her in rank, not something she should be learning until she reached those ranks. She groaned in frustration while he mused on her possible knowledge of jutsus. If he was correct after analyzing the known thing about the Haruno clan, she probably had a whole list of them stored in her brain, many of them S-class and very deadly.

"Hn." _You can't walk any longer._ Sakura glared at him with her jade eyes, trying to hold a dangerous aura. It wasn't working. Threatening him was futile. There was no way he was going to put her down.

Kisame was behind Itachi, following while trying his best not to snicker and sneer at the kounichi. He was angry with her for causing them more trouble, and he was finding humor in the kounichi's state of distress. The kounichi was not taking very kindly to Itachi's carrying her. He snorted. She deserved it. "Where we going, Itachi?" Kisame questioned, ready to detonate the bombs hidden in the base. All he had to do was use the necessary amount of chakra Deidara had told him to use.

"Later," he briefly said. He wasn't about to reveal the location in front of Sakura. He would wait until she was asleep or too far away to hear what was being said.

Sakura groaned in displeasure, finally accepting that there would be no way he was going to put her down. She can't exactly ride on his back like she did before, and she couldn't walk for long distances without taking many breaks. She would just have to accept being carried like this, but it didn't mean she doesn't have say in when they would take breaks. The pregnant woman has priority. They would have to stop for her bathroom breaks and food breaks whenever she requested. She was going to take much pride in bossing around the two S-class missing nin, and they knew it too.

She averted her eyes away from the three bodies laying side by side in the dark corner of the living room. It reminded her of how heartless these two could be. She had no regrets for saving the red haired kounichi, even if Itachi was pissed off at her for it.

* * *

The Hokage's office door slammed open. "Why the hell didn't you call me?" the blonde jinchuuriki exclaimed, rushing up to the Hokage's desk. He had somehow heard about this little meeting between the five ANBU in front of her.

"Uzumaki Naruto! You know better than barging in here like you own the place!" the Hokage yelled back, pounding on her desk. It broke in half. Her assistant dropped her head in agony. That was the eleventh desk this year. As much as it was good for the furniture business, it wasn't good for the Hokage funds. The ANBU remained silent, awaiting further instructions from their leader. They all knew how much Naruto wanted to be a part of this.

"But, Tsunade-baa-chan, I have to go too! She's my teammate!" Naruto whined. A violet haired woman entered the room and slapped her forehead. She expected to find her husband here.

"Naruto, there's probably a reason why you're not going!" the wife scolded, placing a gentle hand on his back. He looked at her and frowned. Even his wife was against him. He looked into those white eyes. Those eyes were filled with so much sadness, a reminder of the failure of his last mission. She wasn't going because she is now formally retired from all missions. She is now Head of the Hyuuga household. She was wearing a silver, silk kimono as a symbol of her status. She didn't want to wear it, but the clan elders thought it was fit for the Head of the clan to wear it. She peered over to the Cat mask. She could tell he was frustrated with his Lady's baka husband. Heads of prestigious clans are always asked to retire since they will have so much work with the whole clan's business.

"Hinata-chan! I-!" He yelped when he heard his Hokage's booming voice.

"Naruto, you are not going, and that is final!" Tsunade announced. She was already annoyed enough about two of Team Seven being missing. She didn't need a third member going missing as well.

"But she's going to need me!" the blonde tried. The excuse didn't work.

"I'm sending Wolf to go in your place. You know he'll be as much comfort to her as you are." She glanced over to the tall ANBU who had his hand shoved in his pocket. He nodded once in reply. "Now get out of my office! You are suspended from all missions until they return! Lady Hinata, please escort your husband out of the premises." A dark cloud formed above Naruto's head, pouring all the rains of depression on his head.

"N-Naruto-kun," Hinata whispered, trying to comfort her blue eyed husband.

"K-… Wolf, please take care of her," the defeated blonde pleaded, almost saying the man's name. He wasn't interested in ANBU protocol at the moment with his own suspension.

"Hai, Naruto-kun," Wolf replied. Naruto was guided out of the room by his loving wife, the door shutting behind them. Tsunade growled and slapped her own forehead.

"That boy is going to be the death of me," she muttered, turning her attention back to the five ANBU in front of her. How Naruto even got word of this mission was beyond her. "Wolf, Cat, Hawk, Bear, Mouse, we received word from Sand that the Akatsuki had been found in a base in Wind Country. They most likely have evacuated by now. Haruno Sakura was seen with them. Follow their trails, and rescue Haruno Sakura. If you encounter Uchiha Sasuke, arrest him under violation of probation and for leaving the village again. Your priority is Sakura's safety. Bring her back to Konoha quickly. She was last spotted in Sector 12B of Wind." The five ANBU nodded in compliance. "Do you accept?"

"Hai!" all five said together, each placing a hand on their hearts as a symbol of respect.

* * *

"Naruto-kun," Hinata called, lying down next to her husband on their bed. He traced his fingers along her cheek.

"Hinata-chan, I love you," Naruto whispered, placing a gentle kiss on her lips.

"Naruto-kun, I want to start our family." Naruto's head raised off his pillow to look at her completely. The violet haired girl was blushing. He knew it was wrong of him to be so happy right now, but Sakura would forgive him right? He's wanted to begin their family for a long time.

"Hai hai, Hinata. Believe it," Naruto muttered, pressing his lips down on hers passionately.

* * *

"Kaa-san!" a little four year old called, jumping onto his mother's lap. Luckily her wheelchair was locked down into place. The mother sweetly smiled and ruffled his brown hair. He looked up at her with the eyes that matched hers.

"Kichirou-kun," the mother replied as the son snuggled against her chest. She liked the warmth he was radiating. She loved her son. That bond that she had felt when she was pregnant with him would always be there. No matter if she was the most unwanted person in the world, there would always be her little Kichirou.

"Gomen, Ino-san. I couldn't stop him," the raven haired woman protested, a young boy trailing along her side.

"It's no problem, Kurenai-san. I would always be happy to be glomped by my own son." Ino noticed her son beginning to doze off in her arms. "What did you do today to get so tired, Kichi-kun?" He yawned in response.

"He and Asuma-chan were having fun at the park. They played with the other children for once," Kurenai explained, patting her own son on the head. He whined and tried to pull his mother's hand off of his precious hair. "Kichirou's otou-san was stubborn and decided I would be Kichirou's babysitter today, claiming he had work to do as the jounin sensei of team Fourteen." Ino grinned.

That was definitely Shikamaru. He may think everything is troublesome, but if his son or his son's mother was in danger, he'd be there for there in seconds. Ino had been the one who asked to start going back to work. She constantly told him that she was fine, tired of his complaining. She wasn't fine, but she was going to slowly have to learn to adapt to this new life style. Because she was Kichirou's mother, he believed that it was his duty to be by her side every day. She personally requested Tsunade to get the troublesome boy off of her case.

"I needed to speak with you anyways, Kurenai-san," Ino announced. Said woman raised an eyebrow at the blonde.

"With me?" Kurenai muttered, looking down at the young boy who was looking up at her. He was curious as to what his mother could possibly be needed for. Kurenai and Ino had formed a special bond through their sons. Since both sons were only a year apart and because Kurenai had been Ino's former sensei's fiancé, they slowly grew close together as two brand new mothers.

"Hai." Ino glanced up to the sky. Her students had come by a few times during the last month and a half, curious about their sensei's wellbeing. She had to break the sad news to them that she would no longer be able to teach them. She could, but she wouldn't be acting as a proper sensei should, going on missions with them and demonstrating techniques for them to learn. "Kurenai-san, I have a request."

"Nani?" Kurenai was wondering what this request could possibly be. A handicapped woman whose lost something important in life deserves some attention.

"Would you be a sensei to my team?" Ino averted her eyes by looking at her sleepy son. It saddened her that she would be leaving her little team. She's only had them for a few months. Kurenai was hesitant about this. She was worried that she would lose another team member if she took on students again. Plus Kiba's gennin team was out of a sensei as well, but the Hokage found a replacement quickly. Anko had taken over Kiba's team. Anyone should feel instantly sorry for them, knowing her sadistic ways. "Onegai, I couldn't think of anyone better." Ino had thought this over and over and decided she trusted Kurenai already. She had originally wanted to take over Kiba's team, but that's no longer an option.

Kurenai reached a hand out to Ino for her to shake. "I will," the crimson eyed woman answered. It might help with her grief. As a shinobi, they are taught to get over death quickly, but behind closed doors, those closest to the ones that died are falling into deep depression. Kurenai still hadn't gotten over Asuma's death, even if it has been almost six years. Her son had just turned five years old three weeks ago, the same day as Kichirou turned four. Another thing the two mothers shared. Ino's eyes instantly brightened up as she smiled with happiness.

"Arigatou, Kurenai-sensei," Ino replied, shaking Kurenai's hand.

* * *

"No, I'm pregnant, so go away, fish boy," Sakura hissed, kicking the fish boy out of her room. He had the gall to ask her if she wanted to come drinking with him and Itachi. He wouldn't even listen to her excuse that she's pregnant! She slammed the door on his face before he could ask again. "Hmph." She wondered what Itachi had been thinking when he actually allowed Kisame to ask her if she wanted to go drink. "Bakas!" She sat down on the bed, groaning at her back pain. She wasn't in the mood for anymore disturbances. She's a moody pregnant woman who will kill soon if bakas like him don't stop annoying her.

She let the time pass away by reading her book, the book she received from Naruto. As bored as she was, she decided that maybe she could write notes in it. She grabbed a pen from her bag, opening it. _Kisame wants any drinking buddy, even a pregnant woman, _she wrote on one of the pages. _Itachi has no care if a pregnant woman goes drinking._ _I will not drink!_

"I miss you, Naruto," Sakura sighed, reading another line of his great adventure. "I miss everyone." She knew there was no way she was escaping this room. It's a hotel room, but Itachi had already put a chakra barrier around it. She had no chakra left to try to find a crack in it. That S-class jutsu had really taken a toll on her.

She quickly fell to sleep. She woke up after a couple of hours when she heard someone enter the room. She sat up, rubbing her eyes drowsily. Her book slid off of her and onto the floor, making a loud thump. She so was not being a good ninja right now. She eyed the shadow standing in the doorway. Piercing red eyes stared back at her. She grasped her bed sheets. She wasn't going to let the memory come back to haunt her. Not now.

"I-Itachi-san?" Sakura called. She noticed now it wasn't a pair of red eyes. It was only one red eye. That was definitely not Itachi. Kakashi? No, definitely not. His Sharingan is on the left eye. The dangerous aura radiating off of the man in her doorway was scaring her. She screamed when the man lunged for her. She tried to pull herself away from the bed, but her legs got tangled in the sheets. She felt her head be slammed into the wall, a hand pinning her neck. Chills ran through her when the man touched her round stomach. The fear was keeping her from moving.

"The next Uchiha brat," the man hissed. Dark chakra flowed from his hand and into her womb.

"S-Stop," she gasped out. She felt fear for her child. This man's chakra was invading her, searching her abdomen. The tight grip on her neck moved to her mouth, keeping her from screaming for help. She muffled a name into the man's hand while tears rolled down her cheek. "Itachi," she tried to call. The hand on her mouth clamped down even tighter to keep any noise from escaping. She whimpered when she saw the dark chakra flaring from the man's hand on her stomach grow to be visible.

* * *

I had to. I had to leave a cliffhanger. You guys can probably already guess who it is!

I don't have much to say this time, but I will try to update faster. Sorry if it seems kind of short. XP

Review please. It makes me happy to see your reviews. It gives me motivation to update.


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